The Stars and a Little Bit More
by ArcticJacs
Summary: Kylie isn't a stranger to time and space travel. Far from it. She has a Timepiece embedded into her arm, and it has given her the opportunity to see things out of this world - literally. She never expected it to crash, though. She didn't expect to find herself stranded in Earth. And she never, ever, expected to find stuff of legends and stories: the last Time Lord. [DoctorxOC]
1. Stuck on Earth

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my OCs... unfortunately :(

* * *

_Hello :) _

_So... I'm new at this. First fanfiction! yay:) I hope you like._

* * *

"Oh no, no, _no_."

The stupid timepiece was acting up again. The usual white screen showing the time and the year was flashing, the numbers changing back and forth. I shook it, a trick that sometimes would work, and winced when the device made a strange whirring noise.

My body was slowly being torn apart, and I felt it on every strand of my being. Every cell, every _atom_, was being rearranged and thrown around. Yet, I was still corporeal, at least barely. The pain was there, of course. But it was dulled, more in the background. That at least was one of the perks of the apparatus. It was imbedded in my flesh, shaped to look like a wristwatch, made to help me travel through time and space.

It had been uncooperative for some time now, but a quick shake or a tap on its face would immediately fix it. Now, as I tried punching it, the only thing that changed was the pain as my knuckles connected. I swore under my breath, took a long breath, and looked up.

The whole universe, every event, through all time was laid before me. What once was, what is, what will be. It was indescribable, and it was enough to make someone mad.

I stared, images going back and forth, and as I looked, my head suddenly exploded in pain. It was too much for a mortal brain. This was not something I should be looking at. My gaze started to blur, and I knew that I would be stuck here, forever.

Unless I did something rash, possibly stupid, and a hundred percent mad.

My eyes flitted through the images, not looking at one more than a moment. I saw skies of all colors, worlds of every shape, cities on every landscape imaginable, and then some more. My eyes caught on an image, and I allowed my mind only a second to recognize the tall tower with a clock face before I threw myself forward, and clasped the images with my hands.

I landed with a thud, and groaned in pain. I was out of the time vortex, and although the pain dissipated somewhat, it was no longer a background noise. My muscles hurt, and my skin screamed as it brushed the hard floor.

"Oh, my! Are you quite alright?"

My hands quickly found purchase with the floor and I pushed, quickly landing on my feet as I accessed my surroundings. It was a street, not one I recognized, and it was mostly vacated. An old woman watched me a few feet away, and she gasped when she saw my face.

"Young lady, I think you need a hospital."

I quickly examined her, noting her clothes and the accent. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Where's the Cronux?" I asked, and my voice rasped. I licked my lips, suddenly very thirsty.

The woman blinked. "I really think you need help. You may need a hospital."

"No, no. I'm quite all right, thank you. I need to see the Cronux."

"The…" the woman hesitated. "The Cronux?"

I nodded. "You know, big tower, huge clock?" I motioned with my hands.

Comprehension dawned on her face, and I let a sigh of relief.

"Oh! You mean Big Ben?"

Now, _I _was confused. "What?"

"You mustn't be from around here, I can tell from the accent. Doesn't really sound American though." She took a step forward. "I can give you directions, if you want. Whoever led you here was quite off. But I really think you should visit the hospital first."

I waved her off. "No, I don't need a hospital. I need to see the Cronux." I tried stepping forward, but I wobbled. Black spots danced across my vision, and I felt light headed.

An arm found its way around my waist and I leaned on my new support, waiting as the spots disappeared.

"Can you walk? I'm taking you to a hospital."

"No," I tried telling her, but it sounded more like a groan.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You're bleeding from various places and I think you must've hit your head. There's a hospital right around the corner, you can go visit Big Ben when you're feeling better, alright?"

I wasn't putting attention anymore. Instead, I asked the question that was really bothering me. "Where are we?"

The woman chuckled. "Yes, definitely a blow to the head. Right now, we're near Chancery Street."

This time, my lightheadedness did not come from my injuries. "We're not in Elyrum, are we?"

"What?" When I didn't respond, she continued. "We're in London, England. I think you may be having a bit of amnesia."

I mumbled an incoherency in response, and blindly followed. Now that I was putting more attention, there was no way this was Elyrum. The sky was too light a blue, and even though it was day, the two day-moons were not to be seen.

No, I wasn't on Elyrum. I was on planet Earth.

I've been here before, of course. The humans were way too interesting to miss out on them. And we looked eerily similar, at least in appearances, so it was easy to blend.

Minutes later, we were inside the hospital. They checked me in, the old lady said her goodbyes, and left me alone. At least, a few seconds, until suddenly the hospital staff descended on me and I was whisked away.

They tried doing tests with me, of course, but I didn't let them. They quickly took care of my surface wounds, gashes here and there through my body. They bandaged me, telling me that I was lucky not one of them needed to be sewn. I had simply shrugged, remembering that the human skin was weaker than ours.

"What year is it?" I asked.

The hospital staff looked at me worriedly before muttering something about going to fetch the doctor. I shrugged, sat on the gurney, and stared at the window. It was pouring outside, but my attention was elsewhere. I examined what I could from my reflection on the window. My dark hair knotted, the usual wavy strands were sticking out every which way. I tried smoothening them, trying to erase the image of a crazy girl, and did a decent job. My clothes were ripped here and there, right where the gashes on my skin were. I was tired, and it was evident on my face. There were dark shadows under my green eyes, and I was paler than usual.

I was just sitting there, wondering what to do, when it happened. Everything started to shake, the cupboards blew apart and objects started to fall. I grabbed on to the gurney, heart racing as I waited for everything to stop.

When it did, I instantly realized something was different. It took me a moment to realize that there wasn't any light coming from the window. I slowly stood, trying to find my footing as I peered through the glass.

We were on the moon.

Well, then.

I had not expected that.


	2. Smith, Jones and Kylie

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Doctor Who :(

* * *

_Soooo if you're on chapter 2 it means you kinda liked the first one... right? :D_

_The Doctor's on in this one! Say hello to Ten:)_

* * *

I stood stock still, staring out into space. The Earth should be a little to my left, I noticed, but didn't really care to move. I was hypnotized by the sheer expanse of space, and although it wasn't something new, I was still amazed. A pang of melancholy hit me, and my right hand traced the device on my left, as I wondered if maybe I was stuck here, forever.

Then the yelling started. The humans. Of course they were yelling. The apes feared everything they didn't understand. Instead of figuring stuff out, they stood stock-still, yelled, and sometimes, fainted. Most of them were quite useless.

A commotion suddenly called my attention and I pressed myself to the window, looking up. A spaceship came into view slowly coming to a halt as it landed. Two more followed, and mere seconds later, the doors opened to let beings through.

I cursed, quite long and loudly. Judoons were marching out of the spaceships, making their way into the building.

Another round of profanities burst from my lips. If they found me here, I would be doomed. Not only was I not human, but I was wanted as well.

I considered my options. I couldn't really run far, stranded here on the moon, but I could probably hide long enough so the Judoon will find what they're looking for and leave. That is, if we didn't all die from oxygen deprivation first.

I debated staying on the room I was currently in, but decided not to. Nowhere to hide if they decided to check here. So I ran out the hallway, through the crowds of panicking people, and found the perfect place. It was a janitor's closet, stacked up to the ceiling with cleaning supplies. I ducked behind one of those and waited.

It was not long before I started getting paranoid. I literally had nowhere to run if that door opened. I would be caught and imprisoned, if not dead. Depending on whether they mistook me with the other alien on the hospital or if they recognized me.

I couldn't take it any more. I couldn't see anything from here, and I couldn't be prepared for attack. I slowly inched the door open, and finding the hallway Judoon free, I slipped out.

It was not long before I heard the Judoons, slowly making their way through humans, cataloging them and marking their hands. I panicked, and ducked into the first room I saw.

It was mostly dark, and I didn't have enough time to really examine it before my eyes caught on a stranger. The man was hunched over the computer, a gadget in his hand making a strange whirring noise and lighting up blue.

"Back so fast? What did he say?"

I remained silent, not wanting to be here but unwilling to go out. He turned in his chair, and his eyes widened.

"Oh, not Martha then. Hello there. And who are you?"

I hesitated. "I'm Kylie."

"I'm the Doctor. Do you work here, Kylie?" I shook my head. "Oh well, do you know anything about restoring backups in computers?"

"No."

He sighed and returned to what he was doing. "In that case, I don't have much use for you. Now, run along."

I remained immobile, and sensing this, he turned back again.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, exasperated.

"There are aliens outside." I tried reminding him.

He waved it off. "They won't do anything to you. They're not interested in humans." He froze, as if something had just occurred to him. "Unless you're not. Human, that is."

Oh shit. "I'm human."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He pointed his gadget in my direction and the point glowed blue. "Aha! Alien! You're the one they're looking for."

He stood up, and I had a whole view of him. He was tall. At least a head taller than me, and wore a blue pinstripe suit and a long coat. His hair was mussed, sticking out. He was a bit handsome I suppose, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I raised my hands in front of me. "No, I'm really not. I _am _alien." I clarified. "But they're not looking for me. Well, not right _now._"

His face twisted in confusion. "What?"

"Look, I haven't done anything to warrant a search like this. I'm just a non human that stumbled into the hospital." I motioned to the bandages on my arms. "Probably the same as you. You're not human either, are you?"

He neither denied nor confirmed this. Instead, he quickly took a step forward and grabbed my arm. "I'm not sure I believe you. So, you're coming with me."

He dragged me into the hall, which I was relieved to find empty of Judoon. He dragged me until suddenly a girl in a white coat ran to him, and he caught her with his empty arm.

"I found her." She said, out of breath.

"You what? No, _I _found her!" he motioned towards me and I smiled when I caught her gaze, waving with my free hand. Suddenly something broke back the door, and a man in dark clothing and a motorcycle helmet burst through. "Run!" the Doctor yelled.

His hand pulled me with him, and I took off running with them. We ducked into hallways, down the stairs, quickly freezing when we almost ran up against the Judoon. The alien in the motorcycle jacket was hot on our heels, and the Doctor quickly ushered us into a radiology room before closing the door on the alien's face. He rushed us to a space behind a screen.

"When I say 'now', you press the button." He told the woman as he pushed us both behind a glass wall.

"I don't know which one." She screamed.

"Find out!"

The woman grabbed for the Operator's manual, and I rolled my eyes. I quickly stepped up to the console, running my eyes over the buttons. It would have to be obvious, I gathered. I saw a big yellow button and assumed that was the one.

The woman was still flipping through the pages when suddenly the alien broke through the door.

"Now!" The doctor yelled.

I pressed down the button and watched as the room was flooded with light. The woman closed her eyes, but I stared, transfixed, as the Doctor and the alien's skeletons shone. The alien with the helmet froze a second before tumbling to the ground. It didn't even twitch.

"What did you do?" The woman, -Martha,- gasped.

"Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead," The Doctor explained, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Isn't that likely to kill you?" Martha worried.

I strode out from behind the glass and approached the alien in the floor. I kicked him slowly, breathing out when he failed to respond. I crouched next to him, giving him a brief curious pass over.

I looked up at the Doctor and watched him carefully. I didn't know how he'd done it, least of all so fast, but he'd made a plan. He saved us by his quick thinking. Quite impressive. I wondered what he was.

"I have a feeling this," I paused. "This _Doctor _here, has felt much worse things than such simple things as radiation."

The Doctor met my eyes, and a grin played on his lips. "You're right. It's only radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery." He smiled, all teeth. "Martha, it's safe for you to come out, I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it."

He started bouncing and hopping, his hair jumping up and down right along with him. I stared at him, surprised. I noticed he acted pretty much like a child.

"If I concentrate," he said between hops. "I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left shoe." He proceeded to jump in only one foot. "Here we go, here we go, easy does it..."

He shook his foot, and I stared, astonished. Crazy. This man was crazy.

His jumping did not cease. "Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out, ah, ah, ah, ah. It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot. Ah - hold on." He took off his shoe, dumping it in the dustbin. He grinned, almost looking proud. "Done."

I didn't know if I should laugh or continue staring. This man, this man was-

"Mad." Martha took the words right out of my mouth. "You're completely mad."

All of the sudden, he turned serious. His eyes bored into Martha's.

"Right. I look daft with one shoe." He took off the other one, dumping it right next to the last one. The serious expression on his face did not waver. "Barefoot on the moon!"

He wiggled his toes.

I almost burst out laughing, right then and there, crouched beside the leather man. This situation I found myself in, it was ridiculous. I had not expected this in a million years.

Martha walked over close to me, and crouched, examining the body.

"So what is that thing?" she asked. "And where's it from? The planet Zovirax?"

The Doctor walked over to us, and I couldn't take my eyes off his feet. Ridiculous. Simply, ridiculous.

"It's just a slab." He said. "But first things first." He paused.

He stood just on the other side of the slab, and I had to crane my head back to look at him. I blinked. He no longer looked relaxed. The easy expression on his face was gone. He stared at me, and there was something in his eyes that shook me. It took me a moment to realize what was coiling deep in my stomach. Fear. This man was to be feared.

"_Who _are you?" he asked, and if the feeling behind his eyes weren't enough, his tone would have alerted me of the danger I was in.

I stood up, slowly, stepping back so I could see him properly.

"I'm not a threat." I told him, quietly.

He arched an eyebrow. "I'll be the judge of that. It's not everyday that you find an alien in a human hospital. Especially not one just taken to the moon."

I gulped, but the sound wasn't quite loud enough to block Martha's mumble, "_Another _alien? _Everyone's _an alien today…"

"Look," I said nervously, my eyes fixed on his, even when all I wanted was to look away. "I can explain this. I really can. Let's just," I motioned the slab on the floor. "Let's just take care of this first, yeah? I swear, on everything that matters, if we get though this, I'll explain everything."

I waited with bated breath. His eyes bored into mine, and I swear I felt like he was looking right into my head.

"Don't make me regret this."

My whole body relaxed with his words. And I breathed a sigh of relief.

He knelt beside the slab, and the stormy expression on his face was gone as fast as it had appeared. Back was the relaxed, carefree, _excited _expression. I stared, amazed. How was that even _possible_?

"They're called 'Slabs'." He explained. "Basic slave drones, see? Solid leather, all the way through. Someone has got one hell of a fetish."

He stood up, approaching the machine.

I returned my gaze back down to the slab thoughtfully, still amazed at the Doctor's display. The man was much more intricate than I first thought. Something lumbered under the surface. Something dark. I suspected he had seen, _done, _horrible things.

Looking up at him, whining about his _sonic screwdriver_ as Martha droned on about the old lady, my thoughts almost seemed laughable. Horrible things? This man? No. How could he?

But one look at his eyes confirmed it. He ran much deeper than I first thought. And who was I to judge? I was not Miss Innocent, me. I had also done my share of wrong things. I did not know his reasons, and I would not judge until I knew them. Even then, I would try to see it from his point of view. Treat others how you want to be treated, right?

A dry laugh escaped me, too low even for them to hear.

_Right._


	3. Straws Are Not Always For Milkshakes

**Disclaimer: **Only Kylie's mine

* * *

_I want to thank **Ruby** for being the very first to review!:D Thank you _**_Ruby, _**_I'll do my best._

_I don't know how often I'll be updating. As long as I have a chapter written, I will post._

_On to chapter 3!_

* * *

"… She was _drinking _Mr. Stoker's blood." Martha was saying.

"Funny time to take a snack. You'd think she'd be hiding. Unless – no." Something seemed to dawn on him. "Yes, that's it, wait a minute. Yes! Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it!" he explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I remembered something I had learned in school, so long ago.

"Wait," I told them. "She'll register as human. She's mimicking the morphology."

If the Doctor was impressed, he didn't show it. He just gave one quick nod. "We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!"

We ran out of the room, Martha and I hot on the Doctor's heels. He stopped us, motioning us behind a corner and a water cooler quickly, hands on our shoulders forcing us down.

"Shh, quiet." He told us.

Not a second later, another slab walked past us.

"That's the thing about Slabs." He whispered. "They always travel in pairs."

"What about you?" Martha asked.

I blinked, interested on the man's response.

"What about me what?"

"Haven't you got back-up? You must have a partner or something."

Her question was an innocent one, but perhaps only because I was so close to him, I felt him tense.

His voice gave nothing away. "Humans! We're stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you're asking personal questions," He stood up with a fluid movement from his crouch. "Come on."

"I like that. 'Humans,'" Martha mumbled. "I'm still not convinced you're an alien."

I'm not sure how it happened. I was just about to reassure Martha when suddenly two Judoon faced us, scanners in hand as they aproached. The light blinded me for a second as it shone in my face.

"Non-human." Both Judoon echoed each other.

"Oh my God, you really are! Both of you!" Martha exclaimed.

The Doctor didn't give her time to say anything else. His hand slipped into hers, and he pulled her to a run.

"And again!" he shouted.

I followed them, just behind the Doctor. More running. It seemed as if it was the only thing the Doctor ever did.

I'm not sure how we managed it, but we ducked into a hallway, the Doctor locking a door behind him. Martha's breaths were coming in short pants, and I felt a bit out of breath. She was probably handling it quite well. If I were human, I'm not sure how well I'd be faring.

People littered the floor, and I'm not sure how much more they would last. They were gasping for breath, and too weak to do anything about it. I was quite impressed with Martha. She was one capable human.

The Doctor was mumbling something about the Judoon when Martha stopped suddenly, crouching beside another woman in a white coat. She was tending to a girl, holding an oxygen mask to her face.

"How much oxygen in there?" Martha asked.

"Not enough for all these people. We're going to run out."

"How are you feeling? Are you all right?" The Doctor asked us, his gaze flitting between us.

I was quite pleased his question seemed to address me as well.

"I'm running on adrenaline." Martha said with a grin, quite out of place next to the fainting girl.

The Doctor grinned back. "Welcome to my world." He turned toward me. "And you?"

I smiled. "I'm much tougher than a human. I'll hold longer. Not much, but something's something."

He nodded, and I could see his mind working behind those impressive eyes.

"You?" I asked.

He grinned. "Two hearts. Best lungs on this part of the universe."

I felt my eyebrows rise. _Huh._

"What about the Judoon?" Martha asked.

The Doctor brushed that off. "Ah, great big lung reserves, it won't slow them down. Where's Mr. Stoker's office?"

Martha took a breath, as if bracing herself, and stood up.

"It's this way."

We entered the office, and the first thing I saw was Mr. Stoker's body, white as a sheet. His eyes stared unblinking up at the ceiling. A small imprint rested on his neck. _Straw shaped_.

"Poor bastard." I breathed out, crouching beside the Doctor.

He glanced at me, probably ready to scold me, until he saw my face. He understood that I meant it.

"Drained him dry." He said, examining the body. "Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore."

"What was she doing on Earth?" Martha asked.

"Why here, of all places?" I murmured along.

That stopped me, jarred me from the little moment. Why Earth, indeed? I smiled dryly to myself. She was not the only one hiding here.

"Hiding. On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro." The Doctor said. I didn't quite understand the human reference. "What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on."

I stood up, unthinkingly following orders. That made me scowl. The Doctor was a leader, no doubt about it. He took control without him consciously doing it. Made us all immediately act like followers and, gods forbid me, _assistants. _

"Wait a minute." Martha knelt down, softly closing Mr. Stoker's eyes.

And then, like good little _assistants _we were, we followed the Doctor.

"Think, think, _think_. If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" The Doctor mumbled. His eyes fixed on something over my shoulder. I glanced back, reading the word MRI. "Aah. She's as clever as me. Almost."

The Judoon's voice travelled to us. "Find the non-human. Execute."

I swallowed. "Uh, Doctor. They're coming."

"I know, I know, I know." He turned towards Martha. "Stay here. I need time. You're going to have to hold them up."

"How do I do that?" she asked.

"Martha," The Doctor took the woman by her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Forgive me for this. It's to save a thousand lives, it means nothing. Honestly, nothing."

And then he kissed her.

I stared, perplexed. Well, then. Alright. Sure. Just kiss her.

He released her, and I had just time to see Martha's astonished face before he took me by the hand and pulled me after him.

"What was that all about?" I huffed, the rapidly fading air finally starting to take its toll on me.

"Genetic transfer." The Doctor mumbled, before stopping outside the MRI room. "Alright. You stay here. Don't come in."

I nodded, and watched as the Doctor tiptoed into the room. I rolled my eyes. What did he take me for? A simple _assistant?_

Not me.

I walked in after him, ducking behind a curtain.

The old lady, the plasmavore, was there, her back to the Doctor. She was working on the controls on the machine. It was whirring, growling out noise. The Doctor took a big breath.

"Have you seen-" he said, incredulous. The plasmavore quickly turned around, her old eyes narrowed. "There are these things, those great big space rhino things. I mean rhinos from space. And we're on the moon. Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon." I had to suppress a grin at that. "And I only came in for my bunions, look-" he wiggled his feet. Again. "They're all right now, perfectly good treatment, I said to my wife, I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon. And did I mention the _rhinos_?"

I was impressed. The rate at which this man talked was incredible. And to the unsuspecting plasmavore, he looked pretty damned convincing.

"Hold him!" She growled.

The slab, which I had not noticed, grabbed the Doctor by the arms. I almost jumped to the rescue, but froze at the last second. The Doctor wasn't stupid. That much I had gathered from the time I had spent with him. There was a reason behind this.

Probably.

Right?

The old lady turned around, messing with the machine.

The Doctor, fortunately, wasn't one to give up. "That thing, that big machine thing, is it supposed to be making that noise?"

The lady waved him off. "You wouldn't understand."

It was impressive, what followed. The Doctor had a way of doing things, it almost seemed easy. The old lady spilled all her evil plans, while the Doctor just stood there, _without _shoes, being held hostage by a slab. He played her right into it.

"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?" He asked, seemingly perplexed.

The lady grinned. "Yes. But I'm hidden."

"Oh. Right! Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans."

The grin was wiped from her face. "They're doing what?"

"Big chief rhino boy, he said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans... up to setting two?"

The plasmavore's eyes raked the Doctor up and down. "Then I must assimilate again."

And with that, I understood what the Doctor was playing at. He had played the human perfectly. If the plasmavore drank from him, she would no longer pass as human. A risky maneuver, but brilliant all the same.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"I must appear to be human."

He kept on talking, like nothing was amiss. "Well, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife. She'd be honored. We can have cake."

The old lady's grin was downright scary. "Why should I have cake? I've got my little straw."

And he, being the Doctor, grinned. "That's nice. Milkshake? I like banana."

"You're quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness. I think it's time you found some peace. Steady him!"

The slab forced the Doctor's head down, exposing his neck.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm afraid this is going to hurt," She said, grinning maniacally. "But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember."

The straw slipped in the Doctor's neck.

I wanted to interfere. I really did. It took everything in me not to.

And then a thought ran through my head. What if she didn't stop? What if she drained him dry like that other human? The plan would still work, but he'd be dead. _Dead._

I couldn't let that rest on my consciousness.

I rushed out of my hiding place and jumped the slab from behind, wrapping my hands around his neck. He immediately let the Doctor go, and he fell down to the floor. Unmoving. For a second I almost thought he was dead. But his eyelids fluttered, and I almost smiled.

"Stop her!" The plasmavore shrieked.

The slab's hands grasped my arms, trying to pull them off. He stumbled, trying to shake me off. He was weakening, fortunately. But then he turned, and slammed his back against the wall.

I grunted, but I didn't let go. He did it again, and again, until my head snapped back and slammed into the wall. My eyelids fluttered, at least I think they did, and I found myself sliding down against the wall, my head lolling to a side. The pain exploded a second later, and a small moan escaped me.

"Finish her-" she was interrupted by the MRI's door slamming against the wall as it opened. The Judoon, followed by Martha, walked in. "Now see what you've done. This people may have just died of fright."

The Judoon said something. I'm pretty sure they did. But I was no longer listening. Darkness rushed in, and I fell unconscious.

I woke up to see Martha almost on top of the Doctor, performing CPR. She was mumbling under her breath, probably counting the compressions. Sweat appeared on her brow, and she was struggling to keep awake. The air was almost gone now; I was surprised she was even lucid. I felt lightheaded, though that might have also been from the concussion.

I crawled on all fours towards her. I reached her just as she collapsed beside the Doctor.

I forced my mind to fight out of it sluggish state. What had he said? _Best lungs in this part of the universe…_

"Two hearts." I gasped.

I took over what Martha was doing, this time taking in his right chest. I breathed into his mouth, and a mere second later, he gasped, his eyes flying open.

The Doctor was coughing, too weak to stand up. But the machine was still whirring. It would take half of the Earth with it.

"Doctor. The scanner." I climbed to my feet, dizzy with the lack of air. I felt tired, _so _tired.

I tried shaking it off. The Doctor was trying to reach the machine, but he struggled, still coughing.

I reached for him, putting a hand around his waist as I helped him up. He leaned on me, and I nearly fell with the extra weight.

He reached the cables, his hands fingering the blue one. "No," he grumbled. "The red."

I leaned against the wall, my shoulders heaving with relief when he finally unplugged the machine. It quieted instantly.

The Doctor climbed to his feet. "You all right?" he gasped.

I laughed. It was breathy, barely there. Spots danced across my vision. "Just peachy."

The Doctor grinned his face finally regaining color.

"Come on, brave Kylie. It's not over yet."

He gathered Martha into his arms, and with me stumbling beside him, made his way into the nearest room with a window.

I'd barely made my first step into the room when I collapsed. My body was finally giving out.

The next thing I know, a warm arm wrapped around my waist and helped me up. I leaned against the Doctor, noticing he had placed Martha on a nearby bed. He walked us toward the window, muttering to himself.

"Come on, come on, come on. Come _on, _Judoon, reverse it."

My knees threatened to give out again. I wrapped my own arms around his waist, leaning my head against his shoulder. My vision was blurry, but I still managed to see when the rain started to fall.

"It's raining, Kylie." I could hear the joy on his voice alone. "It's raining on the moon."

I managed a grin. "We did it." I gasped.

His arm squeezed my waist. "We did."

* * *

_So, tell me what you think! How's the Doctor been so far? I hope he hasn't been too out of character :/ I love Ten, so I would absolutely hate that._


	4. How Very Unoriginal Of Me

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still not mine.

* * *

_Hey guys! I'm loving the feedback, so keep 'em coming! Thank you to all of those who have reviewed - seriously, it gives me a warm gooey feeling inside every time I read a new one. And to those who said they liked Kylie, yeah, you had me smiling like a fool at my computer for a looong time haha :)  
Also, you have no idea how relieved I was to hear that Ten isn't acting too weird. I was SO worried about that._

_So, I decided today that I'm going to start updating every two or three days. If I miss one day, don't be alarmed. I'm not planning on leaving this story anytime soon._

_Thank you guys, really. And don't keep your comments to yourself! Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what intrigues you, what disgusts you. Feedback helps me improve the story! _

* * *

The hospital was back on Earth, right where it belonged. Onlookers littered outside, trying to catch a glimpse of the survivors.

The Doctor was dragging me with him towards his spaceship.

"You can let me go, you know." I told him, almost stumbling. He held me by the arm, and his long strides were too big for me to keep up comfortably. "I won't run. I promise."

He let me go, but he still watched me suspiciously. "Good. Because you promised me some answers."

The Doctor waved at Martha at a distance, and I copied his actions. We approached a blue police box and I felt my eyebrows rise.

"A box? Your spaceship's a box?" I asked, fighting the laugh. "How are we both going to fit in there?"

The Doctor only smiled, like it was a joke only he understood. He opened the doors and waved me in. "After you."

I had only taken a step in when the dizziness settled in. I had been expecting a small cramped space. My mind and body were prepared for it.

It wasn't.

I immediately stepped back out and the Doctor laughed at my expression.

"It's- It's-" I gasped.

The Doctor motioned me to continue. "_Yeees_?"

I peeked around the police box's corner, confirming that it was, in fact, a normal box on the outside. I looked inside once again, taking in the huge room with the console.

I laughed, running a hand through my hair as I did. "It's bigger on the inside!"

The Doctor watched me as he grinned. "Come along, then."

He strode past me inside, and I could only follow, trying to take it in all at once.

"This is a TARDIS. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space. What do you think?"

"Wonderful." I breathed, running a hand over the railing.

He smiled. "She is, isn't she?"

"Do you mind if I…?" I asked, signaling the pilot's chair.

He nodded, and I dropped in the seat, my legs giving out.

There were no words to explain this.

The Doctor leaned against the console in front of me, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Time to cash in that promise, Kylie. _Who _are you?"

I sighed. "Kylie Reynolds from Landon, Orisis."

"Orisis?" he asked, and then whistled. "You're a long way from home, Kylie."

I raised my left hand, the timepiece strapped around my wrist. "Not with this."

"Aha! Vortex manipulator. Can I see?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not a vortex manipulator. A Timepiece. That's a capital _t. _It's imbedded into my flesh. It can't be taken out."

He frowned. "I see. And it's broken?"

I sighed. "It seems like it."

"May I see?" he asked, but my hand was already between his before I could even react. "Ah, I see." He took out his sonic screwdriver, running it over the Timepiece. "Aha!"

"What? You know what's wrong?" I asked.

He let go of my hand. "No. I have no clue."

I groaned. "What then?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'll find out eventually, I suppose."

"What?" I asked exasperated. "So that's it then? You're not going to try and fix it?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure I would even let you keep it, if it worked. Time's a tricky thing. I can't be sure you won't mess with the wrong things. Fixed points in time, and all that."

I scowled. "You're no help at all, Doctor."

He grinned. "Well then. Shall we go see Martha?"

"No, wait." I stopped him. "What about you? You haven't told me anything about you!"

He waved me off with a hand. "Me? Nothing interesting about me. Just a boring, old man."

I rolled my eyes. "There is definitely nothing boring about you, old man."

He shrugged, but a grin played across his face.

I crossed my arms. "So? Tell me. Who and what are you?"

His grin changed, and I'm not sure if it was for the better or the worst.

"I'm the Doctor," He said. "And I'm a Time Lord."

I stared at him, wide-eyed, stories, legends, and _myths_ running through my head. _Time Lord?_

"Time Lord?" I repeated out loud. "That's impossible."

He looked away for a second. "The last one, me. Last of the Time Lords."

"My grandmother used to tell me stories about you lot," I poked his knee, the closest part to me. "I just poked a Time Lord on his knee. Oh, she'd be rolling on her grave right now."

He slapped my hand away as I poked him again. "Oi! Stop that."

"You told me you had two hearts," I said, awed. "And this spaceship! You travel through time and space like me, yeah?"

He scowled. "Not like _you_. Yours is like… a tricycle. Me?" he patted the TARDIS' console fondly. "I drive a sports car."

I raised my eyebrows. "Sure. Whatever," I stood up. "You said something about Martha?"

"Ah, yes!" He stood up with a flourish, moving around the console, flicking and tugging, until finally he stepped on a lever. "Here we go!"

He flipped the lever. I almost fell out of the chair, with all the trembling and groaning of the TARDIS.

"You sure you know how to fly this thing?" I yelled over the noise.

He scowled. "Of course I do!"

We came to a stop with a _thump! _And I released the death grip I had on the chair and the railing. I felt out of breath, and my mouth stretched into a grin.

"We moved?" I asked.

"Uh-huh."

I stood and moved to the room, and I'm not ashamed to say I skipped a little. I was no stranger to time and space travelling, but this? _This _was truly out of this world. A Time Lord and his TARDIS.

"Fabulous landing," I told him, grinning at him over my shoulder as I opened the door, peeking outdoor. It was dark outside, and we were in an alley, the sound of music from nearby buildings just reaching my ears.

"Oi! It was a great landing!" He exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes as I stepped out, turning around again to watch the TARDIS in all its blue glory. "That's what I said."

He looked surprised as he stepped out after me.

"What? Surprisingly enough, I think that's the first time somebody has ever said that to me."

"Compared to _my _landings," I explained, lifting my arms, showing the bandages still there. "Guess where I got these_?"_

He frowned. "I'll take a look at those later."

I shrugged his concern away. "No need. I heal pretty fast."

He nodded, contemplating. "Osirien. You're an interesting species, I'll give you that."

I grinned, oddly flattered. "Thanks, I guess."

"I knew an Osirien once. Very brave. Very blonde," He added, raising an eyebrow. "Weirdest eyes I've ever seen."

I could not think of any Osirien with that description, so I remained quiet.

He leaned against the corner, watching. I stepped beside him, also leaning against a wall beside a poster. _Vote Saxon, _it read. I shrugged it away. Human politics, boring stuff.

The Doctor's eyes were firmly fixed on a small group of people who were having a fight. I squinted, realizing one of them was Martha, looking stressed and fed up.

"Don't you _dare!" _Someone – a man – said to a woman's retreating figure. "I'm putting my foot down. This is me, putting my foot down!"

I frowned, awkwardly watching. I felt like I was intruding in the moment, even if they hadn't noticed me.

"Is it okay if I wait inside the TARDIS?" I whispered.

The Doctor slowly nodded.

The door from the TARDIS was still slightly ajar. I stepped in and made myself comfortable in the pilot chair, resting my head back as I watched the pale columns reaching the ceiling.

I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up back in the hospital. This seemed like a dream. It definitely felt like it. A _Time Lord. _The last one.

I wonder how he survived. I thought they had all been killed in the war. I had tried using my Timepiece countless times, trying to take a peek at Gallifrey. Something had stopped me, though. More like the Timepiece had _refused. _I believe the term was that it was time locked.

My grandmother had known a Time Lord once. I think she even had a crush on him. She travelled with him for a while, and the stories she told were… _incredible. _I've had an adventure or two with my Timepiece. But if any of her stories were even remotely true, my experiences paled in comparison. No, not paled. They were _nothing._

If today was anything to on, though, I could see what my grandmother meant when she said those were the best days of her life.

However, as much as I like the idea, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to experience it for myself. _This _Time Lord didn't seem the type to travel with companions. At least, I didn't think so. I noticed he had looked almost… detached at times. Like he didn't want to care.

But he'd gotten along great with Martha. There had been pride and even a bit of admiration in his voice when he praised her after something she'd done or said.

Me? I didn't know. He was still wary of me. But he had to trust me at least a little bit to let me in into the TARDIS without him, even if I didn't think anyone else but him could even drive it.

The man was confusing, at best. I prided myself in being able to read people. I trusted my instincts, at least most of the time. This man, however, had me completely disoriented. He acted one way, but his eyes said something else entirely. An _old soul, _my grandmother would say. I think I never truly understood that phrase until I met the Doctor.

The door opened and the Doctor swept in, jarring me from my line of thoughts. He closed the doors behind him, immediately heading to the console.

"Martha?" I asked.

"I've got a good feeling about her. I invited her along for one trip," He told me before he pulled down the lever.

I gripped the chair, puzzled as the TARDIS departed. "Where are we going then?" I said over the noise.

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor headed to the door. "Just proving a point."

He disappeared.

_And me? _Was I also invited? That was a question I desperately wanted the answer to. If he asked, of course I would follow. What there an alternative? No, the Timepiece was dead until I found a way to fix it. I would be stranded in Earth, alone, without the means and the knowledge to survive in the human world.

I would look for Torchwood, I suppose. I'd heard of them, of course. They played an important part in human history. I could pass off as a human and work with them or something.

The door opened again, and the Doctor walked right back in, his tie in his hand. My eyes ran over him, and I decided he looked better this way – the neck undone and his hair ever more mussed from dragging the tie over it. He looked more relaxed. More _human, _in a way.

He fiddled with the console and we were back again in the alley. This time, I followed him as he went out back again to meet Martha.

"Told you," The Doctor smirked.

Her expression was amusing. She looked like a fish out in the air, her mouth opening and closing as her brain tried to understand the implications of what had just happened.

"I _know, _but," Martha stuttered, "That was this morning! But- Did you… Oh, my God! You can travel in time!"

I chuckled, drawing her attention.

"And you!" She continued, "How are you not surprised? Even a little bit!"

I showed her the Timepiece. "He's not the only one that can travel in time and space."

Her eyes widened even further. "But- Is this like normal for aliens? Are humans the only ones that can't do it?"

"No," The Doctor drawled. "We're… exceptions. Speaking of," He shot me a look. "You forgot to mention how you even got your Timepiece on the first place."

I shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "Long story."

The Doctor looked like he was about to press further, but Martha spoke before he could.

"But hold on, if you could see me this morning," she said. "Why didn't you tell me not to go in to work? Both of you?"

I flicked the Timepiece in its face. "It stopped working," I grumbled.

The Doctor frowned at me. "Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden." Then he paused, a smile inching up his face. "Except for cheap tricks."

"Well, she travels with her watch," her eyes flickered to me and then to the TARDIS. "Is this your spaceship?"

"It's called the TARDIS," he explained and I noticed how his tone changed when he spoke of the spaceship. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

She smirked. "Your spaceship's made of wood," She observed. "There's not much room. We'd be a bit intimate."

The way she said it, and the way she looked at him as she did, it looked like she didn't think it was the worst thing in the world.

The Doctor didn't seem to notice, however. He pushed the TARDIS' door open. "Take a look."

What followed made me a bit embarrassed, but also made me grin. _It's bigger on the inside! _Apparently that hadn't been very original of me, judging by the way the Doctor mouthed the words right along with Martha. I wondered if he had done the same with me.

The look in Martha's face, however, was unforgettable. The TARDIS was an amazing thing, and for a second, I though that perhaps the Doctor was the luckiest man in the universe. However, the look in his eyes crossed my mind, and the thought immediately vanished from my head.

"But, is there a crew?" Martha was asking, "Like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?"

"Just me."

It was the way he said it that called my attention. I immediately stopped fiddling with the Timepiece and looked up, focusing on the Doctor. He was working on keeping his emotions intact, but he was trying too hard. The expression on his face was in no way natural.

"All on your own?" Martha kept pressing.

"Well," The Doctor drew out the word. "Sometimes I have guests. I mean some friends, travelling alongside. I had - there was recently a friend of mine." He froze for a second too long. "Rose, her name was Rose. And… we were together. Anyway."

I froze myself, sensing a wave of emotions behind his simple words. This Rose, whoever she was, had meant something to him. Something huge.

"Where is she now?"

I winced. "You don't have to answer." I told him, trying to shoot Martha a look without him noticing.

He shrugged like it was nothing.

"With her family. Happy. She's fine." He widened his eyes, immediately pointing a finger at each of us. "Not that you two are replacing her."

"Never said I was," was Martha's reply.

"Wait," I slowly said. "That means me too? I get to come with?"

Hope was building up inside, and my fingers twitched as I waited for his reply.

His eyes widened as he met mine. "Of course. How could I leave you here? It's not like you'd know what you're doing."

I wasn't even insulted. A ball of nerves and excitement had just taken over my stomach, and some of the tension from my shoulders disappeared as anticipation took over.

"Just one trip to say thanks," He told Martha. "You get one trip, then back home. You too," His eyes flickered over to me. "One trip and then I help you get settled or something. I'd rather be on my own."

My suspicions were confirmed. This man, who dedicated his time to help other people, didn't want to care.

"You're the one that kissed Martha," I teased, trying to lighten up the tension that had suddenly formed.

"That was a genetic transfer," He roughly reminded me.

"Well you do wear a tight suit," Martha wondered, her grin growing as the Doctor tried to shush her. "And then you travel all the way across the universe just to ask me on a date…"

"Stop it," The Doctor commanded and Martha looked suddenly chastised and embarrassed.

"For the record?" she said. "I'm not remotely interested,"

_Lies, lies, lies. _They were all over her and I doubted the Doctor would ever notice.

"I only go for humans," she finished.

He smiled, relieved. "Good. Well, then," He walked around the console, pushing and pulling as he talked. "Close down the gravitic anomalizer. Fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the hand brake. Ready?"

"No."

"Yes."

Martha and I spoke at the same time, and we exchanged a look. Even as I'd said yes, and she had said no, I know we felt the same. An adventure was just ahead, in our grasps, so close. A completely different world, and even as nerves and apprehension took over us, the excitement was close to killing me.

The answer didn't seem to matter to the Doctor either way. "Kylie, Martha," he grinned. "Off we go."

He pulled the hand brake, and immediately, the shake took over the TARDIS once again.

I was prepared, so I grasped the handrails tightly. Martha just barely took hold of the console. The Doctor, the one that should have been the most prepared, fell back to the pilot chair, scrambling up back to the console.

"Blimey!" Martha exclaimed. "It's a bit bumpy."

I laughed, also transferring my grip to the console, right between Martha and the Doctor.

"Just a bit," I grinned.

The grin spread through the Time Lord's face. "Welcome aboard, Miss Jones," his eyes flicked to me. "And you too, Kylie."

"It's our pleasure, Mr. Smith." Martha grinned back.

"No, it's an honor," I told him.

And into the time vortex we went.


	5. And BAM! You Got Yourself a New Species

_Hey, look! It's chapter 5!_

_So, I'm really nervous about this chapter. There's a bit of Kylie's story, mainly her 'species'. Tell me what you think? Does it fit? Should I rewrite it? Do you even understand what's going on?_

_Also, a question. Would you prefer:  
A) Short chapters but frequent updates, or  
B) Long chapters that may take more time to write_

_I want to thank all of you awesome reviewers! Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how happy you make me:)_

_**FirePheonix15: **Oh. My. God. My head just exploded. I think I would have never thought of that! I'm going to seriously consider it, see if it fits with the other ideas I have. Seriously you just- I don't- ugh you left me speechless for a while there hahaha  
**Nights Eternal Dream: **Thank you! That's a HUGE relief. And yeah, Kylie's got some thing up her sleeve and who know how the Doctor will react after he finds out;)  
**Idonthaveaccount: **Thank you!  
**Flower: **Thank you, too!  
**Ruby: **Really? hahaha that's good:)  
_

_One last thing. I'd like to warn you that English is NOT my first language. But I'm trying, guys. I'm really sorry if something doesn't really make sense. My head keeps translating from spanish to english and some things just don't sound the same._

_Anyway, here we go! _

* * *

We landed, and the Doctor opened the door for us. His eyes were trained on Martha's face, and I could see why. Time and space traveling wasn't anything particularly new to me (though traveling with the last Time Lord on his TARDIS was a completely new experience.) But for Martha? This was momentous. Life changing. Her life had changed forever from this point on.

I wasn't surprised to hear the Doctor had failed the test to fly the TARDIS. Sure, it was much smoother than the Timepiece's journey, and infinitely safer, but nevertheless, the way the Doctor jumped and twirled around the console made me think that there was probably a much more graceful way of flying the spaceship, than bumbling about and pressing whichever button looked like it needed pressing.

The street we found ourselves in was cobbled and lit with torchlight. Women in dresses and men with hats hurried by. Human fashion was a mystery to me, but I knew enough to know we had traveled back, not forwards.

"Mind the loo!"

A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and I flew back into the Doctor's chest. Just in time. A woman from the second floor tipped a bucket out the window, and the contests splashed a few feet away from me.

I stepped away form the Doctor's arms, pulling a face as the smell of the contents reached me.

"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet," The Doctor was telling Martha. Then, he turned to me. "Sorry about that."

I waved if off, mumbling a thank you.

"But are we safe?" Martha asked as we strolled around. "I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

"Of course we can. Why do you ask?"

"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly; you change the future of the human race."

I stared at Martha, perplexed. A butterfly?

The Doctor stopped, shooting Martha a look and rolling his eyes. "Well, tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies," He frowned. "What have butterflies ever done to you?"

"What if, I dunno," she continued. "What if I kill my grandfather?"

I eyed her. "What exactly are you planning, Martha?" I asked, amused.

"What? No! I'm not planning anything. Oh, bullocks. What, and, well, _when_ are we?"

"London," the Doctor considered. "Right about 1599."

"Oh, but hold on," Martha stopped, with a hand on each of our shoulders. "Am I all right? I'm not gonna get carted off as a slave, am I?"

Something clicked in my head, a reminder of one of my previous trips to Earth. "Oh, I actually know what you're talking about!" I exclaimed.

Martha looked at me strangely. "What?" She asked before understanding dawned on her. She ran a hand over her face, continuing speaking without giving me a chance to respond. "I almost forget you're alien sometimes, Kylie. _Him_?" She signaled the Doctor. "He acts and talks all weird sometimes. If it weren't for the strange thing in your arm, I would immediately assume you're human. And it even looks like a wristwatch so it would be a complete lucky guess."

She sighed again.

I smiled, meeting the Doctor's eyes for a second. "What can I say? We Osirien look a lot like you humans."

"Osirien?" she asked. "Is that what you are?"

I nodded.

The Doctor strode forward, taking the spotlight. _And so easily, _I might add. "Quite an interesting story. A traveling human was completely taken in with a siren. One with legs, mind you. Next thing you know, everyone's doing it and _BAM! _You got the Osirien."

"Wait, so you're part human? Human and siren? A _siren_?" Martha asked, bewildered.

"Physically, she looks like a human, I suppose," the Doctor said, quickly walking around me like he was inspecting me. I followed his movements with my eyes. "But Osirien are much tougher. Skin, hair, health, they're all much more stronger than humans'."

"And age." I added.

"Oh, yes. They live almost - nine, was it? - Yes, nine times more than humans. Yes, a human and a siren. Much more further into your future, when humans have already traveled out of this galaxy. She's the only Osirien existing right this moment. And yes, sirens." He rambled on. "Kinda like mermaids, I suppose. Only some can shift their tails into legs. And they sing rather beatifically. Oh, and Osirien, they're quite good at swimming."

Martha met my eyes, and I laughed when I noticed how hers had widened incredulously.

"He pretty much just summed my entire species up." I told her. "And about your question, I doubt they will do anything to you."

"Why would they do that?" the Doctor asked, perplexed.

"Not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed." She said.

"Well, we're not even human. Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me." We continued walking. "Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there," he pointed at a pile of hay and manure being scooped up into a bucket, "They've got recycling," Then to a group of men conversing at a water barrel, "Water cooler moment," and then to a man, preaching about the world's end in fire. "Global warming."

Then he jumped in front of us, walking backwards as he smile stretched. "And of course!" he continued. "Entertainment." We crossed a corner and he stopped, spreading his arms wide. "Ladies, I present you, the newly opened, Globe Theater!" he paused. "Though, strictly speaking, it's not a globe; it's a tetradecagon – 14 sides – containing the man himself."

"You don't mean," Martha started, awed. "Is Shakespeare in there?"

"Oh, _yes_," He let out, relishing the syllable. He held out his arms, one to each of us. "Miss Jones, Miss Reynolds, will you do me the honor of accompanying me to the theatre?"

We linked our arms in his.

"Yes, Mr. Smith, I will," Martha said.

I grinned at him. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

* * *

The Globe Theater was packed, and for good reason.

The actors were bowing onstage, over and over, as the audience went wild with their applause and cheers. The play had been fantastic.

"That's amazing!" Martha yelled over the crowd's noise. "Just amazing! It's worth putting up with the smell. And those men dressed as women, yeah."

"London never changes," The Doctor said.

I looked over at him, intrigued. "What?"

He laughed. "I'll explain later."

"Where's Shakespeare? I wanna see Shakespeare." Martha said. Then she started chanting, "Author! Author! Do people even say that?"

The Doctor and I exchanged glances, but we were surprised when suddenly the crowd took up the chant and spread, until the whole theater was shouting _Author!_

Shakespeare finally made his appearance. He was a handsome man, with wavy brown hair and a bit of a beard on his jaw. He had a dark jacket, open to reveal a loose white shirt and a bit of skin. Definitely attractive.

He stands near the stage's end, bowing exaggeratedly and blowing kisses.

"He's a bit different from his portraits," Martha commented.

"How so?" I asked her.

"He's, oh, compared to his portrait his utterly-"

"Handsome?" I interrupted.

She grinned. "_Yes."_

We shared a chuckle and I could almost feel the Doctor rolling his eyes.

"Genius," He said. "He's a genius. _The _genius. The most human Human that's ever been. Now we're gonna hear him speak. Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words."

Shakespeare took a breath, and we watched, awed.

"Shut your big fat mouths!"

I was taken aback. Maybe the Doctor had confused this man. Perhaps, that's why he didn't look like the man in the portraits.

The audience didn't seem to have a problem with his words. They burst in laughter.

The Doctor looked disappointed. "Oh, well."

"You should never meet your heroes," Martha interjected, also looking a bit let down.

"You have excellent taste!" Shakespeare said. "I'll give you that." Then he pointed to a man in the audience. "Oh, that's a wig!"

The audience laughed, and even Martha cracked a grin.

"I know what you're all saying," he continued. "'Loves Labour's Lost', that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops! Will the boys get the girls?" He paused, smiling slowly as he enjoyed the crowd's attention. "Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius." He winked at the audience.

Suddenly, in a move almost unnatural, he snapped right out of his relaxed pose, instantaneously jerking upright.

"When?" He told the audience, after a brief gap of stunned silence. "Tomorrow night!"

The audience cheered even louder.

"That was weird," I muttered under my breath, eyeing the cast members, who seemed stunned.

"The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it 'Loves Labour's Won!'"

Even Martha had joined in with the cheering. The Doctor, however, remained noticeably silent.

Something was not right – it was evident on his stance alone. It took me one look at his face to know.

He wasn't going to let this one go.


	6. That Lanky Fellow (AKA The Doctor)

_Hey, you;) Chapter 6 is here!_

_**iluv2read5898: **Thanks!:)_

**_Dream I Dare:_** _Good point. It could be done, but I agree. Better to keep Rose from the story, if I can help it (as much as I love her.) At least, until season 4 and The Stolen Earth._

**_Ruby:_**_ Thanks! That's a relief:) _

* * *

We walked amongst the masses of people trying to exit the theater. It was quite funny, watching the other people's faces as they met the Doctor's height. Whilst Martha and I seemed almost average in stature, he towered over these people.

"I'm not an expert," Martha said, "But I've never heard of 'Loves Labour's Won.'"

"Exactly," The Doctor said slowly, lost in thought. "The lost play. It doesn't exist – only in rumors. It's been mentioned in lists of his plays but it never really turns up. No one knows why."

"Have you got a mini-disk or something? We could tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint." Martha asked, excited.

"No," Was the Doctor's reply.

"That would be bad?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not an expert either with this… Shakespeare." I drawled. "But if the play clearly exists, how did it disappear in the first place? We could find out."

"Well," he started, and then sighed, defeated. "I was just gonna give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer."

I grinned, giddy with excitement.

"Well then?" I asked. "Where to now?"

"Now," the Doctor grinned back. "Now we're going to go meet Shakespeare."

Martha let out what sounded suspiciously close to a squeal, and then embarrassedly looked down. Her grin, however, stayed firmly in place.

We made our way to the Elephant Inn, where the Doctor promised us Shakespeare would be.

The Doctor strode in through the hall in front of us, walking like he knew exactly where he was going. He opened a door, grinning like a fool.

"Hello! I'm the-"

The Doctor jumped back and immediately closed the door, eyes wide like saucers and a flush staining his cheeks.

"What?" I asked, amused. "Wrong room?"

He twitched "Umm, yes." Then he shook it off, something I had realized he was very good at. "Come along!"

He walked to the end of the hall, barely even knocking, _again,_ before striding in.

"Hello!" I heard him say. "Excuse me! I'm not interrupting, am I? Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?"

"Oh no, no, no, no. Who let you in?" Shakespeare said as Martha and I filed in after the Doctor. His eyes were closed, and his hand massaged his forehead. "No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove-"

His eyes had opened, and now he stared intently in Martha's direction. And, well, mine. No, his eyes were solely trained on me.

Martha's grin was stretching from ear to ear. However, I fidgeted uncomfortably, nervous that one of the biggest geniuses there has ever been (at least, according to the Doctor,) and a very handsome man was staring at me intently.

"Hey, _nonny_ _nonny_," He breathed. His eyes flickered quickly to Martha before returning to me. "Why don't you two lovely ladies sit down right here next to me?"

He quickly dismissed the other people in the room, - two actors and a barmaid, - before motioning to the chairs in front of his desk.

Martha was positively glowing, the way she jumped to the chair and settled in. The grin on her face had permanently set in. I walked in further into the room, but settled on standing beside the Doctor as he watched Shakespeare, amused, but just a bit suspicious.

Shakespeare was smiling radiantly. "Sweet ladies." His eyes ran over us. "Such unusual clothes. So… fitted."

I crossed my arms. Martha and I both had jeans and shirts covered by jackets. It was a relaxed outfit, but compared to what the women wore here, I couldn't say I was surprised.

"Um, verily, forsooth, egads," Martha rambled.

I had the urge to slap a hand over my face.

The Doctor sighed. "No, no, don't do that. Don't."

He then pulled out a chair and sat down, leaving me no choice but to follow and sit on the third chair, directly in front of Mr. Shakespeare. His eyes tracked my movements and I blushed a little.

The Doctor held a wallet with a piece of paper towards Shakespeare.

"I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS," he said and I rolled my eyes. "And these are my companions, Miss Martha Jones and Miss Kylie Reynolds."

Shakespeare's eyes flicked over the paper. "Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank."

The Doctor's face immediately changed. He was impressed, I could tell. "Oh, that's…" he grinned. "Very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius."

Martha and I peered at the paper.

"No, it says so right there. Sir Doctor, Martha Jones, Kylie Reynolds. It says so."

I hummed in agreement, but watched the piece of paper suspiciously. I was almost disappointed that I _could _read the little paper, unlike the writer. That I wouldn't impress the Doctor like Shakespeare did.

I frowned. That was_… interesting._ I had not known the Doctor for long. Just a little over a day, more or less. And yet that man was so imposing, so _remarkable, _he already made me want to impress him. Few could evoke that feeling in me, even less with this intensity.

"And I say it's blank." Shakespeare pressed.

The Doctor addressed Martha and me. "Psychic paper. Um," he paused, frowning. "Long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch."

"Psychic," Shakespeare wondered. "Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is this exquisite beauty?" he asked, his eyes boring into mine.

My own eyes widened. "What?"

He leaned over the desk, a smile playing upon his lips. "Oh, yes. Eyes as clear as the sea and hair such as a raven's. What a striking combination. So tell me, lovely, what are you doing with such a man?" His eyes flickered to the Doctor for a mere second. I could only stare as he spoke, shocked. "I could show you so many things that the lanky fellow couldn't." He smirked, just hints of teeth flashing and I once again thought that this man was incredibly attractive.

However, as seductive as his words appeared, I very much doubted he could ever show me more than the Doctor could. The man had a spaceship that could travel through time and space, what more could a girl ask for?

"Um, no," The Doctor stammered, a bit of a blush painting his cheeks. "She's not with me. She's, umm, -"

"She's okay on her own, thank you very much." I intervened, meeting Shakespeare's eyes. "Thank you, but no thank you, I suppose."

He leaned back again, still smiling. "Ah, a woman with her own mind. I like that."

A man entered the room and interrupted whatever I had thought to say.

"Excuse me!" he said. "Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behavior. A new play with no warning?" He huffed. "I demand to see a script, Mr. Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed."

A small noise from the corner of the room distracted me, and I realized we were not alone in the room as I had first thought. A maid was tidying things up, though at the moment her eyes were trained on Shakespeare.

I frowned, not liking that she had been there the whole time without me noticing.

Shakespeare rolled his eyes. "Tomorrow morning, first thing. I'll send it 'round."

"I don't work to your schedule," The Master of the Revels growled. "You work to mine. The script, now!"

"I can't," Shakespeare bit out.

"Then tomorrow's performance is _cancelled."_

From the corner of my eye, I saw the maid leave.

"I'm returning to my office for a banning order," The rude man continued. "If it's the last thing I do, 'Love's Labours Won' will never be played."

With that, he turned on his heel and left.

There was a brief silence as I leaned back on my chair. My eyes met Shakespeare's for a second, though he looked lost in thought.

"Well, then. Mystery solved," Martha said. "That's 'Love's Labours Won' over and done with. Though, I thought it might've been something more, you know… more mysterious."

A scream sounded from the window. We snapped to attention and scrambled to our feet, running out of the Elephant Inn.

The man from before was stumbling around, his hands wrapped around his neck as he spit out water. It didn't end, though. Every time he opened his mouth, more and more water came out.

"It's the Master of the Revels bloke!" Martha exclaimed.

"What's wrong with him?" The Doctor wondered out loud. "Leave it to me – I'm a doctor."

Martha followed. "So am I. Well, near enough."

I hovered over the edges, knowing there was no way I could help. Their hands ran over him, trying to find out what was wrong with the man.

It was no use, however. The man slumped over, landing face first on the hard ground. Martha rolled him over, trying to find his heartbeat or a sign of life.

The Doctor caught my attention. He stood off to the side, looking down the street. His eyes flickered everywhere, looking for something.

Martha tried to reassure the fallen man. She even tried to begin CPR. However, as she opened his mouth, only water rushed out.

"What the hell is that?" she asked.

I walked after her, bending my knees next to the body as I ran my eyes over him. "Strange," I muttered.

And strange it was. There was no physical mark on his body. Nothing nearby that could cause him to choke on so much water. One moment he was perfectly fine, - perfectly _angry, _- and then he was dead. Something else was involved here, though I had no idea what that could be.

"I've never seen a death like it," The Doctor muttered, joining us as he also looked over the body. "His lungs are full of water. He drowned and then… I dunno, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow."

He stood, wiping of the confusion on his face, and addressed the barmaid.

"Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."

"Yes, sir."

The maid from before had joined the barmaid, "I'll do it ma'am," She said.

The Doctor crouched back down beside the body.

"Why did you tell her that?" Martha asked.

"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft."

"But what was it really, then?" I muttered.

The Doctor met my eyes.

"Witchcraft."

We walked back to the Elephant Inn, mine and Martha's feet dragging over the floorboards. We were tired, and even if my sleep cycle differed from human's (I usually slept once every three days,) I had been running on adrenaline close to five days.

"I got you a room, Sir Doctor, though there was only one left." The barmaid told us. "You, Miss Jones, and Miss Reynolds are just across the landing."

_Sir _Doctor acknowledged her with a nod, but the mood was too grim to smile.

"Poor Lynley," Shakespeare said as he took a seat. "So many strange events. Not least of all, a woman that can be a doctor?" He asked Martha.

"A woman can do what she likes, where I come from." She answered, her eyes steely and head held up high.

"And where would this be, pray tell?"

"Umm, Freedonia."

I could tell that Shakespeare didn't quite believe that part.

"And you, Sir Doctor." He continued, eyeing the Doctor. "How can a man so young have eyes so old?"

There was a bit of a stunned silence. I couldn't quite believe what I'd heard. I thought perhaps that I had underestimated Shakespeare.

"I do a lot of reading," was the Doctor's serious reply.

"A trite reply," Shakespeare said, though it sounded as if he approved. "Yeah, that's what I'd do."

The Doctor's lips twitched.

Then Shakespeare's gaze flickered to mine, and I felt as if his eyes bored into mine.

"And you," he paused, looking for the right words. "You see much more than everyone thinks you do, don't you? You look at him," he nodded at the Doctor. "And you see what I do. He's as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me, though I think perhaps you have a better chance of solving him than I do."

I held his gaze, our clear eyes clashing as they met. It was only Martha's words that broke our exchange.

"I think we should say good night." She muttered, before leaving.

"I must work," Shakespeare sighed. "I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, Miss Kylie. And I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours both."

The Doctor stopped at the doorway, a smile playing at his lips. "All the world's a stage."

"Hm, I might use that. Goodnight, Doctor."

"Nighty-night, Shakespeare."

I watched the Doctor go, feeling once again that I was left out of a joke that only he seemed to know.

Shakespeare walked around the desk before he leaned against it, motioning to one of the chairs. I took it.

"What can I do for you, Miss Reynolds?" he asked.

I sighed, and wondered why I had chosen to stay. "You may call me Kylie, if you like."

"Kylie," He said, slowly, like he tasted it. He grinned. "Then you may call me William. Will, if you please."

I smiled back before sobering up. "You say I see more than they think I do. But _you_, Will. You see more than this entire town combined. And the world will love you for it."

Shakespeare laughed. "If only. But no. I can see the way you looked at your Doctor. He's a riddle you can't wait to unravel. Bit by tiny bits."

I frowned. "I don't think that man can ever be understood. He carries… too much with him."

"Ah, you see?" he asked. "You're already doing it. You will have that man wrapped around your little finger one day, Kylie. And it's already begun. Even as you try to understand him, _you_ intrigue _him_. You're as much as a mystery to him as he is to you, and you are to me."

"But I don't want him to try to understand me," I complained.

"Everybody carry their secrets, Kylie."

I sighed, frustrated. "I just don't know if he'll hate mine."

He shrugged. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

I shook my head, not willing to risk it. "I should probably let you work."

He shook his head. "I don't mind. You can stay if you like. You can be my muse." He winked.

I stood up, amused. He was not a tall man, maybe only a few inches taller than me.

"You don't need a muse, Will. You have too much, in here." I tapped his forehead with one finger. "I will let you write. Good night, William." I said, and impulsively kissed his scratchy cheek.

He caught my hand before I could turn to leave. He slowly kissed the back of it, without his eyes leaving mine. "Good night, Kylie." Then he smirked. "Dream of me."

I rolled my eyes, but a laugh escaped me.

I walked to the room I would share with the Doctor and Martha, but stopped when I entered. The room was dark, but I could see how they both shared a bed, and that there was barely enough space for a third person.

Martha was deeply asleep; though I saw the Doctor's head rise as I entered.

"Kylie?" He whispered.

"Yeah, it's me, Doctor." I whispered back.

"What did you talk about with Shakespeare?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted to ask him a few things." He shot me a look through the moonlight-illuminated room. "Oh, relax." I rolled my eyes. "I didn't say anything that could change time."

"Good." Then he paused. I deliberated where to sleep, and chose one of the armchairs. "Oh! Wait," The Doctor stopped me. He stood up from the bed. "Use the bed. You'll sleep much more comfortable there, I guarantee it."

I shrugged. "It's okay."

"No, no. Please. I don't think I'm going to get much sleep anyway."

I relented, but only because it seemed that the Doctor did not seem like he would let me have my way. I rested my head against the pillow, and watched as the Doctor made himself comfortable on the armchair.

I don't know how much time passed, but it seemed neither of us could sleep.

I remembered something he'd said, back when Martha had finally entered the TARDIS.

"Are you thinking of her?" I asked, quietly. "That woman. Rose."

There was silence from his direction. Just when I thought he wasn't going to answer, he did, and his voice was infinitely softer. "Yes, I suppose I am."

"Did you love her?" I asked. The silence stretched on, and I could feel his hesitance. "Let me rephrase the question," I finally said, briefly interrupted by a yawn. "Did you have feelings for her?"

"I-," he stuttered. "I, suppose so, yes. Maybe, if we'd have more time, I'd-"

He broke off. His words ran around my head. No wonder he seemed so broken. The last Time Lord had found himself alone again.

"How old are you, Kylie?" He wondered, softly.

"196 years old."

There was a pause. "You still have a way to go, then."

I nodded in the dark.

There was another long silence.

"Tell me about her, Doctor."

I thought maybe this time he would ignore me. However, after a brief hush, his voice finally found a way to my ears.

That night, I fell asleep to the Time Lord's voice. And I dreamt of a blonde girl, with a beautiful, _brilliant, _smile.


	7. Something Witchy This Way Comes

**Disclaimer: **Nope. Don't own anything but Kylie, unfortunately.

* * *

_I'm quite surprised at myself, to tell you the truth. This is the fastest story I've ever written. I'm just having so much fun with it:) Thanks for all the new follows and favorites! You make me happy:) And to my amazing reviewers, you make me blush;)_

**_FirePheonix15: _**_Thank you! Don't be surprised if I do:)_

**_Nights Eternal Dream:_**_ Awww thanks! _

**_Ruby:_**_ Thank you!_

_Soooo on to the chapter!_

* * *

I snapped to my feet, and it took me a moment to try to make my way from sleep. The Doctor and Martha were already running through the door, and I finally remembered what had woken me.

A scream.

I ran after them, suddenly afraid when I saw they had entered Shakespeare's room. We crossed the doorway and, relieved, I saw Shakespeare merely trying to blink away his sleep.

However, whatever relief I had shattered when I saw a woman's – the _barmaid's –_body on the floor. The Doctor crouched beside it, trying to feel for a pulse.

Martha and I ran for the open window, just in time to see a witch on her broomstick laughing away as she rode the wind. We exchanged wide glances, before turning back to the Doctor.

"Her heart gave out," he said. "She died of fright."

"Doctor?" Martha called.

The Doctor ran to us, and leaned out the window. "What did you see?"

Martha and I met eyes once again. We spoke at the same time. "A witch."

* * *

Dawn had just passed. The Doctor, Martha and I sat in Shakespeare's room, watching as he paced and mourned.

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place. We all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so?" he sat, staring at us intently. "She had such enormous spirit.

"_Rage_," The Doctor muttered, quoting. "_Rage against the dying of the light._"

Shakespeare glanced at him. "I might use that."

"You can't," The Doctor said, still lost in thought. "It's someone else's."

"Lynley drowned on dry land," I muttered. "Dolly died of fright. Not the most usual ways to go, are they?"

"They were both connected to you," Martha said, softly, looking at Shakespeare.

"You're accusing me?" He asked, and his voice was angry, though his expression was stony

"No, but I saw a witch, big as you like," she explained. "Flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches."

Shakespeare's face twisted in confusion. "I have? When was that?"

"No," The Doctor corrected her in a low voice. "Not quite yet."

The writer still seemed confused. "Peter Streete spoke of witches."

"Peter Streete?" I asked.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe."

"An architect," The Doctor repeated. Then his eyes widened in disbelief. "Hold on. The architect! The architect!" He jumped to his feet and slammed a fist on the table. "The Globe! Come on!"

We rushed off in the Globe's direction, sprinting and ducking around the people already wandering around, starting the day's chores.

I barely avoided a woman carrying a basket on her head when my shoulder caught with another man's. I stumbled back, losing my balance.

"Look where you're going, wench!" he growled.

A hand caught me before I could fall, and I looked back to see Shakespeare glaring at the man.

"Piss off," He barked.

The man scowled in return but backed off, shooting us glares as he left.

"Are you alright?" Shakespeare asked.

"Yeah, thanks." I shook myself off, pulling Shakespeare along. "They're leaving us behind."

"They'll wait."

I laughed good-naturedly. "I don't think the Doctor waits for anybody."

The Doctor and Martha were already inside. Martha stood onstage, and we joined her as we watched the Doctor walk in circles around the pit.

I stared out into the pit and the seats. Even if the Globe was empty, being onstage still felt thrilling. The whole building was _made_ for the place where I stood at to be watched. This was the focus, the center of attention, impossible to miss.

"The columns there, right?" The Doctor was saying. "Fourteen sides. I've always wondered but I never asked… tell me, Will, why fourteen sides?"

Shakespeare shrugged. "It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well."

"Fourteen," the Time Lord repeated to himself. "Why does that ring a bell?"

"There are fourteen lines in a sonnet," Martha tried.

"So there is. Good point. Words and shapes following the same design. Fourteen lines, fourteen sides, fourteen facets…." He grabbed his head, hitting it as he paced. "Oh, my head. Tetradecagon… think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"

"This is just a theatre." Shakespeare pressed.

"Oh, no it isn't _just _a theater. And you know that Will." I said, sitting down on the stage's edge and leaving my feet dangling as I watched the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Theater magic! You should know." He walked to the stage next to my legs, running his hands over the wooden floor. "Stand on the stage, say the right words with the right emphasis at the right time… oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them." Then he paused, like he realized something important. "You can change people's minds just with words in this place."

"It's like your police box and your Timepiece," Martha added. "Small wooden box and a fragile wristwatch with all that _power _inside."

I caught the Doctor's look, my mind running over the implications. "If there was a way to exaggerate all this power, well, who knows what you could do."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh. Oh, Martha Jones, Kylie, I like you. Tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?"

Shakespeare sighed, running a hand through his head as he watched us. "You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place, he lost his mind."

"Why? What happened?" Martha asked.

"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled."

"Where is he now?" The Doctor inquired.

"Bedlam."

"And that would be…?" I asked.

"Bethlem Hospital." He paused, eyeing us. "The madhouse."

The Doctor didn't waste any time. "We're gonna go there. Right now. Come on!"

Martha and I scurried after him. I didn't think of us as his assistants anymore. No, now we looked more like his well-trained dogs.

"Wait!" Shakespeare yelled. "I'm coming with you. I want to witness this at first hand!"

We passed two actors on our way out. Shakespeare handed them a sheaf of papers. "Ralph, the last scene as promised." He told one of them. "Copy it, hand it round. Learn it. Speak it. Back before curtain up. Remember, kid, _project. _Eyes and teeth. You never know – the Queen might turn up."

"Really?" I asked him as we hurried after the Doctor.

Shakespeare laughed almost mockingly. "As if. She never does."

We went out to the street, and once again began the arduous task of trying to keep up with the Doctor's long legs.

"So, tell me of Freedonia," Shakespeare told Martha. "Where women can be doctors, writers, actors."

"This country's ruled by a woman," she responded.

"Ah," Shakespeare said, nodding. "She's royal. That's God's business." Then he turned to me. "She's a doctor. How about you, dear Kylie?"

"I,-" I hesitated, seeing Martha becoming interested in my response all of the sudden. "I travel."

"Ah!" Shakespeare grinned approvingly. "A wanderer. You do seem like it. Though, I must say, you've already wandered into my heart, you beauty."

I laughed, though Martha didn't seem to be that amused by it.

"Whoa, Nelly!" She exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. We stopped beside her. "I know for a fact you've got a wife in the country."

I felt my eyebrows rise and I met Shakespeare's eyes. "Oh, you do?"

He simply shrugged it away. "But Martha, this is Town."

The Doctor turned on his heel when he noticed we weren't following him. "Come on!" he urged. "We can all have a good flirt later."

Shakespeare's eyes seemed to glint as his mouth edged into a mischievous grin. "Is that a promise, Doctor?"

That seemed to have stumped the Doctor. He hesitated for a second, before muttering, "Oh, 57 academics just punched the air. Now move!"

Shakespeare met my eyes and winked. I giggled as I followed after them.

Bedlam was a huge hospital, complete with huge – unused – gardens and an iron gate surrounding the property.

If the outside of the building looked unwelcoming, the inside screamed 'run away while you've still got the chance.' Screams and moans filled the air as we passed, and the smell of dirt and mildew filled the air.

The jailer was huge, but I felt much better walking beside Shakespeare than him. He talked about whipping the 'mad men,' and putting up a show for us. I knew that we Osiriens weren't faultless or the best species to ever exist (far from it,) but I at least knew there wasn´t anything remotely like this in our planet. The Forces would not have allowed it.

The Doctor and Martha had the same disgusted faces than I did, and the Doctor vehemently denied every one of the jailer's ideas. Shakespeare, however, remained impassive, his face almost stony.

"Wait here, my lords," The jailer finally said. "While I make him… presentable, for the ladies."

He left, hitting some cages as he passed.

"So this is what you call a hospital yeah?" Martha finally broke the silence only accompanied by the moans. Her eyes were steely as she confronted Shakespeare. "Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry? And you put your friend in here?"

"Oh, and it's all so different in Freedonia," He mocked.

"But you're clever!" She insisted. "Do you honestly think this place is any good?"

"I've been mad," he said, and it sounded so forlorn that I unconsciously moved in closer. "I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves its purpose."

"Mad in what way?"

"You lost your son," was the Doctor's quiet interruption.

His expression broke my heart. "My only boy. The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry," Martha said softly.

I was so close to Shakespeare already I didn't have to reach much further for my hand to reach his. I quickly enveloped his in mine, and only smiled softly in reply in his searching look.

His hand tightened and laced through mine.

"It made me question everything," he continued. "The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be…" the somber mood was suddenly broken. "Oh, that's quite good."

"You should write that down," The Doctor advised.

"Hm, maybe not. A bit pretentious?"

The jailer made his way out of a cell. "This way, m'lords!" he called.

We made our way through the dingy corridor to the cell. Shakespeare's hand squeezed mine once before letting go. If Martha or the Doctor noticed, they didn't mention it.

Peter was crouched on a corner, head bent and arms wrapped around his legs.

"They can be dangerous, m'lord." The jailer told the Doctor. "Don't know their own strength."

"I think it helps if you don't whip them," The Doctor snarled. "Now, get out!"

The jailer left, and the Doctor approached Peter slowly.

"Peter? Peter Streete?" He said, much softer.

Shakespeare stepped up. "He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him."

The Doctor softly placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Peter?"

Peter's head jerked up. He stared at the Doctor, green eyes glassy. His mouth opened and closed, as if he wanted to speak. He twitched and shook, looking deathly afraid.

The Doctor placed his hands over Peter's temples, staring at his eyes intently. "Peter, I'm the Doctor. Go into the past, one year ago. Let you mind go back, back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A winter's tale. Let go. listen. That's it, just let go." He softly pushed Peter until he was lying on his cot. Then, the Doctor straightened, and his voice changed from soft to a command. "Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches."

"Witches _spoke _to Peter," Peter rasped, nodding along as he talked. "In the night, they whispered. Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. _Their _design! The fourteen walls – always fourteen. When the work was done," He started laughing maniacally. "Oh! They sapped poor Peter's wits."

"Where did Peter see the witches?" The Doctor inquired. "Where in the city? He crouched beside the man as Peter's breaths started coming out as pants. "Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me, where were they?"

Peter took a long breath, as if fighting for control. "All Hallows Street."

I think I was the first to notice the creature, the _witch, _appearing next to the Doctor. Her nose was long and her green skin was wrinkled and sprinkled with warts. Her hair was dull and thin, the white strands falling over her shoulders.

"Doctor, beside you!" I screamed.

"Too many words," The witch cackled.

The Doctor jumped to his feet, immediately coming to stand beside us as we faced the witch.

"What the hell?" Martha exclaimed.

"Just one touch of the heart," the witch said, lifting a finger. She slowly placed it over Peter's heart, and we watched, uncomprehending.

"No!" The Doctor screamed, but he was too late to stop it.

Peter's scream was ripped from his throat. His eyes bugged out, before slowly running back to his face as his scream died. We watched as Peter's life was taken and absorbed into the witch.

"Witch!" Shakespeare gasped. "I'm seeing a witch!"

"Who would be next, hmm?" The witch wondered. "Just one touch." Her hands floated on the air before us. "Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals."

Martha rushed to the cell's door. "Let us out! Let us out!" She shrieked.

"That's not gonna work," I muttered. "The whole building's shouting that."

"Who will die first, hmm?" The witch cackled.

"_Well_," The Doctor dragged out the word. "If you're looking for volunteers." Then he approached the witch.

"No! Don't!" Martha screamed.

"_Doctor," _I warned. By now I knew very well the Doctor didn't do anything without a reason, but this seemed plain, old foolish.

"Doctor, can you stop her?" Shakespeare asked.

The witch grinned a repulsively big smile. "No mortal has power over me!"

"Oh, but there's power in words," was the Doctor's reply. "If I can find the right one – if I can just know you…"

"None on Earth has knowledge of us."

"Then it's a good thing we're here," The Doctor shot me a look. "Anything?"

I frowned, my mind running of the hundreds of species I had met, but I came up with nothing. I shook my head. "Sorry."

The Doctor shrugged, and began analyzing the creature before him. "Now think, think, think… Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy… ah, fourteen! That's it! Fourteen! The fourteen stars of the Rexel planetary configuration! Creature, I name you Carrionite!"

The Carrionite was suddenly enveloped in a bright yellow light. She wailed and flung her arms, before dematerializing into thin air.

We stared, astonished.

"What did you do?" Martha asked, awed.

"I named her. The power of a name." The Doctor paused. "That's _old_ magic."

"But there's no such thing as magic," the would-be doctor continued.

"Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."

"But," I wondered. "Where did she go?"

"She's not dead, if that's what you're asking." The Doctor paced. "She's just weakened, that's all."

"What are they going to use their words for, Doctor?" Shakespeare asked.

The Doctor paused, facing us.

"The end of the world."

* * *

_Dun dun duuuuun_


	8. Not All Witches Are Nice Like Harry

We were back in Shakespeare's room, which had somehow become our base of operations without anyone of us consciously mentioning it.

Shakespeare was washing his face in a basin in the corner, and he scrubbed like he wanted to erase something. Probably the knowledge that there were creatures in the universe he hadn't been aware existed. Martha leaned back against a bookshelf while I made myself comfortable in one of the top chairs. We all watched the Doctor pace, muttering to himself.

"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend." He said.

Shakespeare dried his face with a towel. "Well, I'm going for real."

"But what do they want?" Martha asked.

"A new empire on Earth," the Doctor explained, finally pausing his pacing and leaning against a table. "A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft."

"But how?"

I glanced at Martha. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'words have power'?" she nodded. "Well, they take it literally."

The Doctor was nodding along, before pointedly looking at Shakespeare. "And I'm looking at the man with the words."

Martha and I followed the Doctor's stare. Shakespeare stared at us, bewildered.

"Me? But I've done nothing."

"Hold on, though," Martha said. "What were you doing last night, right about when that Carrionite was in the room?"

"Finishing the play."

The Doctor's head snapped up, like something had just occurred to him. "What happens on the last page?"

Shakespeare shrugged. "The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual," he paused, frowning. "Except those last few lines. Funny thing is… I don't actually remember writing them."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words. Like a spell, like a code. 'Love's Labours Won,' it's a weapon!" His words increased in urgency and speed as he talked. "The right combination of words, spoken at the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that."

Shakespeare grinned.

The Doctor approached the crude map in Shakespeare's desk.

"All Hallows Street. There it is! Martha, we'll track them down. Kylie, Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop the play!"

"We'll do it." Shakespeare said.

My head snapped up. "No way. You saw what the Carrionites can do. And as good as Martha can be in these situations, you need something a little tougher than human right now."

The Doctor hesitated, his eyes flickering between Martha and I.

Shakespeare nodded. "She's right. Take her with you. Anyway, all I have to do is stop the play. I can do that alone." Shakespeare suddenly hesitated, eyes snapping to me. "Wait, not human?"

"I'll explain later," I told him. Then I faced the Doctor, who still looked torn. "All settled then?"

He sighed. "All right."

Shakespeare stepped up to the Doctor and took his hand before shaking it. "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."

"Oh, don't complain." Martha laughed.

"I'm not," Shakespeare continued. "It's marvelous. Good luck, Doctor, Martha," his eyes flickered to mine as he smiled. "And you, Kylie."

The Doctor nodded. "Good luck, Shakespeare. Once more unto the breach!" He exclaimed, running to the door as Martha followed.

"I like that," Shakespeare ginned. "Wait a minute… that's one of mine."

I chuckled before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Will."

He smiled fondly. "You too. Now run, the Doctor waits for no one."

I smiled, and ran out the door.

* * *

We found ourselves in All Hallows Street, wandering around and peering through windows.

"All Hallows Street," The Doctor muttered. "But which house?"

"The thing is, though… am I missing something here?" Martha asked. "The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me – I'm living proof."

"Doesn't work that way," I said, peeking in through a window.

"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux?" The Doctor asked, though I doubted he was talking to me. "I know! 'Back to the Future'! It's like 'Back to the Future'!"

"The film?"

"No, the novelization." The Doctor said sarcastically, something I had yet to hear. "Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history."

"And he starts fading away." Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh my God, am I gonna fade?"

"You and the entire future of the human race. It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it. But which house?"

The door to the house directly in front of us suddenly slid open, and we stared, open-mouthed.

"Ah," the Doctor continued, eyebrows raised. "Make that _witch _house."

The Doctor walked in, and after deep breaths, Martha and I followed.

The house was dark and cluttered, filled to the brim with dust and dirt. We ducked in after the Doctor, following his footsteps.

The Doctor suddenly paused. "I take it we're expected."

"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time," a new, feminine voice suddenly said.

The maid. It was the maid. The one that had always been in the background at the Elephant's Inn. One of her eyebrows was arched as she watched the Doctor, her eyes cold and calculating.

Martha stepped forward. "Right then, it's my turn. I know how to do this." She raised her hand, and pointed at the Carrionite. "I name thee, Carrionite!"

The Carrionite gasped, her eyes widened, before her mouth settled into a smirk.

"What did I do wrong?" Martha asked, her courage now gone. "Was it the finger?"

"The power of a name works only once," The Carrionite said silkily. "Observe." She pointed at Martha. "I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee _Martha Jones."_

Martha's eyes rolled back, and the Doctor only just caught her before she hit the ground.

"What have you done?" he raged.

The Carrionite looked almost disappointed. "Only sleeping, alas. Curious, the name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time. Now you!" She turned to me. "I name thee _Kylie Reynolds_!"

I staggered back, and only the Doctor's quick thinking and his arm around my waist kept me from falling. I suddenly felt completely dizzy, but I remained awake, only standing thanks to the Doctor's help.

"Hmm, even more curious." The Carrionite muttered.

"Witch," I muttered.

"_Kylie," _the Doctor warned.

"What? I said witch."

"No, that's not it. Can you stand up?" He asked.

"I think so." So I took a step away from the Doctor and tried to control my swaying as I faced the Carrionite.

"Your name carries even less weight;" The Carrionite said. "I will take care of you later. As for you," She twirled, facing the Doctor as she pointed. "_Sir Doctor_!"

The Doctor didn't even flinch as he glared at her. I stood beside him, and it occurred to me that the Carrionite was either very brave or very foolish. She stood in his scowl's path, and she only watched him calmly.

"Fascinating," she said. "There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?" She paused, a satisfied smirk crawling up her face. "Oh, but look. There's still one word with the power that aches."

"The naming won't work on me." He ground out.

The Carrionite clutched her chest mockingly. "But your heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant…" She trailed off. "Rose."

The Doctor's face changed immediately. If he was angry before, now he was _furious._

He stalked towards her, glaring down at her petite body. Something churned in his eyes. A storm about to be released.

"Oh, big mistake 'cos that name keeps me fighting," He growled. "The Carrionites vanished! Where did you go?"

"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness," she explained, stepping back and up three steps so she was on even ground with the Doctor.

"And how did you escape?"

"New words. New and glittering from a mind like no other."

"Shakespeare," I breathed.

She nodded and looks towards a cauldron bubbling in a corner. There, the image of Shakespeare, hands on his head as he lamented, appeared.

"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."

"How many of you?" Was the Doctor's almost monotone question.

"Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence."

I watched as the Doctor's eyebrows rose as he silently urged her to continue. I was surprised. He was doing exactly what he had done with the plasmavore at the hospital in the moon. He was extracting information, and his enemy didn't stand a chance.

"And from this world," the Carrionite continued. "We will lead the universe back to the old ways of blood and magic."

"Hmm," The Doctor considered. "Busy schedule. But first, you gotta get past me."

He stood face to face with the Carrionite, the height difference erased when he stood three steps down from her.

The Carrionite smiled, and I definitely did not like this one.

"Oh, that should be a pleasure considering my enemy has such a handsome shape." She said, seductively, her voice a mere purr as her hand ran over the side of his face.

"Now," He rumbled. I simply watched, unknowing what to do when the enemy was close enough to kiss the Doctor. "That's one form of magic that's definitely not gonna work on me."

"Oh, we'll see."

I heard the soft _snick_ seconds before I saw what she had done. She held a lock of the Doctor's hair in her hands.

Trusting my instincts, realizing that that was _not _good, I rushed forward, my hand grasping hers, as I quickly took away the small lock of hair, ducking away as I felt its soft strands.

"Give that back," She snarled, the visage of the seductive witch gone. Now, her teeth were bared and her eyes flashed in the dim lighting.

"No," I said, frowning. The lock of hair was important, of course. But I didn't know _how._

"What did you do?" The Doctor asked, rubbing his head.

"A souvenir I want _back." _She said.

Then she lunged, and it was so unexpected I didn't have time to react. Her nails scratched my cheek, her hands fumbling and scraping trying to grab the Doctor's lock of hair. I fell back to the floor, trying to roll away. She grasped my own hair, pulling it back before I could get away.

I hissed as I felt my hair give under her grasp. I threw the Doctor's lock of hair away from me, watching as it disappeared in the dusty floor.

She finally let go of me with a growl. Before I knew it, the lock of my hair was tied around a small crude doll in her hands. The change was so insignificant I almost didn't feel it. Something shifted inside me, and I knew that was the first sign of trouble.

She held a doll in one hand and a needle in the other as she faced us. The Doctor helped me up from the grubby ground, and we watched, astonished, as she pushed the needle into the doll's right leg.

Unimaginable pain surged within me, and my right leg buckled as I screamed. I fell to the ground, and from the distance, I could barely distinguish the Doctor's cry as he tried to catch me again. I clutched the thigh, watching in horror as my hands came away sticky with blood.

I leaned back on the floor, watching the Doctor's face appear above mine as he tried to stop the blood flow on my leg. I whimpered at the new pressure.

"Now, give me a lock of you hair, Sir Doctor." The Carrionite ordered.

"Don't," I gasped.

Pain suddenly blossomed on my left shoulder. My eyes almost rolled back from the accumulated pain. The pressure from the Doctor's hands divided into the two places. I felt lightheaded, though the pain was finally numbing down.

"Either you let me take another lock of your hair," The Carrionite growled. "Or she dies. Right _now._"

The pressure in my wounds disappeared for a second.

"Take it!" The Doctor yelled.

I turned my head to the side, watching as the Carrionite fingered the new lock of hair of the Doctor's. She grinned, before the window at her back threw itself open and she flew back, levitating mid air.

"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets."

She untangled my own lock of hair from the doll before placing the Doctor's around it.

"You might call that magic," The Doctor snapped. "But I'd call that a DNA replication module."

"What use is your science now?"

I couldn't see what she did, but next thing I know, the pressure completely disappeared and the D octor's face vanished from my view. I could only hear his scream. A scream of pain.

I panicked. I couldn't see what was happening and I was feeling faint. My mind wandered for a minute, hovering just over the edge of complete unconsciousness.

* * *

"Kylie. Kylie! _Kylie." _

I opened my eyes, and the world was moving.

"Kylie?" The Doctor face materialized into view. He was incredibly close to me, his neck just inches from my nose.

"Doctor? You okay?" I rasped.

He chuckled, and his chest under my ear rumbled along with it. "Me? Two hearts, I keep telling you. Now, _you_. I'm really sorry. We had to keep moving. We're on our way to the Globe Theater."

I glanced around, and I realized why the world was moving so much. The Doctor was carrying me through the streets of London, Martha hovering at his side.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

I coughed. "Just peachy," I said, trying a smile. "The pain's numbed now. Perks of being an Osirien, you know? Though I'm still a bit weak."

The Doctor nodded. "The blood loss already stopped. Though it's gonna take a bit before your body fully starts to recover."

"I know," I mumbled, tired. I shifted, and quite by accident I snuggled closer to the Doctor. I breathed in his scent, and it reminded me of the smell of time traveling, that little aroma that always wafted around when I used the Timepiece. It suited the Doctor completely.

A scream reached us, and I glanced up. The night sky was interrupted by a red flash. The light streamed from the Globe's direction, strengthening in size as the screams did.

"Stage door!" The Doctor shouted over the sudden rush of wind and sound.

Something rumbled, very much like a storm. Lightening crackled and I felt the Doctor's arms tighten around me.

We rushed in into the Globe.

"Stop the play!" The Doctor yelled, placing me beside a stunned Shakespeare. "I think that was it. Yeah, I said, 'Stop the play!'"

"I hit my head," Shakespeare grumbled. His eyes snapped to me. "Oh, God. Are you alright?"

I waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about me. Worry about the witches."

A scream came from the stage's direction.

"I think that's my cue!" The Doctor shouted, running off.

Martha followed, and Shakespeare hesitated in front of me.

"Go!" I yelled. He obeyed, running after the Doctor and Martha.

I tried standing up, succeeding only when I leaned all my weight against my left leg and transferred the rest of it into a broom I found nearby. I used it as a crutch as I followed the scream's directions.

I stumbled into the stage to see the Doctor clutching Shakespeare's shoulders. Black smudges flew around the Globe, and only after squinting, did I realize that the Carrionites had escaped from their banishment.

"Come on, Will!" The Doctor yelled over the noise. "History needs you!"

"But what can I do?" Shakespeare despaired.

"Reverse it!"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"The shape of the Globe gives words power," The Doctor explained. "But you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it!"

"But what words? I have none ready!"

"You're William Shakespeare!"

"But these Carrionite phrases," Shakespeare hesitated. "They need such precision!"

I stepped up next to them and used my right arm to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Will," I told him. "Trust yourself." I told him, tapping a finger on his forehead. "You don't need anything else, remember? It's all in here."

"When you're locked away in your room," The Doctor continued. "The words just come, don't they? Like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm – words that last forever! That's what you do, Will! You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!"

Shakespeare took a big breath before facing the Carrionites. "Close up this den of hateful, dire decay! Decomposition of your witches' plot! You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!"

"No!" We heard a shriek from one of the Cariionites. "Words of power!"

"Foul Carrionite specters," Shakespeare continued. "Cease your show! Between the points…" Shakespeare hesitated, looking at the Doctor.

"7-6-1-3-9-0!" The Doctor helped.

"7-6-1-3-9-0!" Shakespeare repeated. "And banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…" He trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Expelliarmus!" Martha supplied.

"Expelliarmus!" The Doctor and I repeated.

"Expelliarmus!" Finished Shakespeare.

The Doctor grinned. "Good old JK!"

The Carrionites started screaming.

"The deep darkness! They are consumed!" One of the Carrionites wailed. And then their shrieks filled completely our ears. The creatures that had appeared suddenly got sucked up into the red cloud. The doors behind us burst open, the play scripts flapping around as they too, disappeared into the red cloud.

"'Love's Labours Won'. The doctor said as we watched it disappear. "There it goes."

The cloud dissipated into thing air. There was a stunned silence, before suddenly a sigh of relief filled the room and the crows suddenly began to cheer and applaud.

I sighed in relief, wobbling in my makeshift crutch. Shakespeare and Martha came to stand beside me, helping me stay up.

"They think it was all special effects." Martha said, amazed.

I chuckled, running my eyes over the crowd. "Oh, humans. You never see what's right in front of you."

She rolled her eyes. "Aliens. You pompous lot."

I laughed, and after a moment, she joined.

* * *

It was morning, once again, and Martha looked like she was ready to fall face first into sleep. She prevailed, however, rummaging through the stage props and making sounds of disbelief.

I sat in a nearby crate, watching the empty audience. The feeling was still there, of course. To stand, - or sit,- in the Globe Theater's stage. The feeling you got when you knew you stood somewhere of extreme importance.

"How are you feeling?" Shakespeare asked as he sat beside me.

I shrugged, wincing at the twinge of pain the action caused. "A bit better."

He chuckled. "Oh, I shall miss you, dear Kylie."

I grinned. "I can come visit, you know."

"You'll forget me."

"Oh, the whole world will remember you, I can promise you that," I said, laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come here." Suddenly his arm was around my waist, and we were impossibly close.

"_Will," _I warned.

"I may never see you again, sweet Kylie. And I want to make sure you remember me."

I couldn't tell him that there would be one point in time that everyone would know his name. Instead, I smiled softly. "Will-"

The Doctor emerged from backstage, interrupting what I was going to say. Shakespeare leaned back with a sigh.

"Good props store back there!" The Time Lord exclaimed. He was carrying a skull in his arms (slightly resembling a Sycorax, I might add,) and a ruff collar around his neck. The Doctor looked at the skull. "Reminds me of a Sycorax."

I chuckled. "I know, right?"

"Sycorax," Shakespeare wondered out loud. "Nice word. I'll have that off you as well."

"I should be on 10%. How's your head?"

"Still aching."

"Here, I got you this." The Doctor took off the ruff collar and placed it around Shakespeare's neck. "Neck brace. Wear that for a few days till it's better, although you might wanna keep it. It suits you."

"What about the play?" Martha asked.

"Gone," The Doctor said. "I looked all over – every single copy of 'Love's Labour' Won' wen up in the sky."

Shakespeare sighed. "My lost masterpiece."

"You could write it up again," I suggested.

"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten."

"Oh, but I got new ideas." Shakespeare grinned. "Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons. In memory of my boy – my precious Hamnet."

"Hamnet?" Martha asked, frowning.

"That's him."

"Ham-_net?" _She repeated.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Anyway," The Doctor interrupted. "Time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot, " he held the crystal where the Carrionites were trapped. "Can scream for all eternity. And I've gotta take Martha and Kylie back to Freedonia."

Shakespeare ran a hand over his beard. "You mean travel on through time and space."

We froze. "You what?" The Doctor finally asked.

Shakespeare shrugged. "You and Kylie are from another world like the Carrionites and Martha is from the future. It's not that hard to work out."

We exchanged glances, eyes wide.

"That's…" The Doctor paused. "Incredible. You are incredible."

"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. It was a pleasure meeting you, Martha." He smiled at her. Then he turned to me. "And you, Kylie. I'll write about you, love." He paused, grinning. "All three of you. And I'll make a great story of you all."

Two men burst into the theater. "Will! Will! You'll never believe it! She's here! She's turned up!"

"We're the talk of the town," The other man said. "She heard about last night! She wants us to perform it again."

"Who?" Martha asked.

"Your Majesty! She's here!"

Just then, he sound of trumpets announced the Queen's arrival.

The Doctor grinned, excited. "Queen Elizabeth I!"

"Doctor!" The Queen growled.

"What?"

"My sworn enemy!" She continued.

"What?"

"Off with his head!"

"What?"

"Never mind 'what', just run!" Martha screamed and I scrambled to my feet, wincing. "See you, Will! And thanks!"

Martha and the Doctor rushed off, the Queen's soldiers rushing after them, and with a smile at Shakespeare, I went to follow.

A hand on my arm pulled me back. The next thing I knew, an arm wrapped around my waist and Shakespeare's mouth crashed into mine, stealing my breath.

"Goodbye, my little raven." He breathed as he stepped back. He grinned. "Remember me."

I laughed breathlessly, doubting very much I could ever forget that kiss.

I smiled. "Good bye, Will."

And then, I turned on my heel, and rushed towards the TARDIS, thoughts churning and lips tingling.

* * *

_A kiss! :O_

_So, just so you know, there WILL be Doctor/Kylie romance at some point. Just not yet. I prefer it when it builds up to it. But don't worry! I'm going to start messing with their feelings pretty soon!_

_So.. ummm... stay tuned?:)_

_Oh! And thanks for all the new reviews and follows!:D Keep 'em coming!_


	9. Slumming It

**Disclaimer:** I only own my OC, Kylie.

* * *

_Welcome to Gridlock! I'm excited for this one, since I'm adding a bit of a plot twist with Kylie, though it won't really make a difference until next chapter. _

_Enjoy!:)_

* * *

The Doctor led me into the TARDIS' wardrobe after quickly checking me in the med bay. Bandages now covered my thigh and shoulder, though the wounds had already stopped bleeding and had already started the healing process.

Although my body was on the mend, my clothes had suffered. Little holes from my last adventure with the Timepiece still decorated my clothes, and now, huge splotches of blood covered my thigh and shoulder.

I was proud to say I was not in the least surprised when I discovered that the wardrobe was huge. I was in a TARDIS, after all. I had not expected anything else.

The Doctor left me alone to search for something to wear. I started searching through the racks, frowning when I noticed that everything was my size or, at least, suspiciously close to it.

The Doctor wasn't anything near my size, and I doubted it was mere coincidence. That only left the TARDIS. Perhaps, somehow, she was gifting me with clothes. It left me awed. I'd heard stories that the TARDIS' were grown, not made. That they were alive, somewhere in there. Before, the stories had been only that: stories. But now, standing in a real TARDIS, I touched the clothes almost reverently.

I decided on dark, skinny jeans, a nice white blouse, and a dark, fitted jacket. The clothes were comfortable for running, the blouse loose enough for warm weather and the jacket cozy enough if it was suddenly cold.

Happy, I wandered through the halls, trying to lose myself in them to see what I'd find.

* * *

We were in the TARDIS' console. My eyes ran over all the controls, the buttons, the levers. I was trying to distract myself from the inevitable. We were going back to Martha's time, and the Doctor was going to drop us off.

Martha sat on the pilot's chair, legs swinging back and forth. There was a frown on her face, though she tried to hide it. I leaned against the railings, watching as the Doctor fumbled with the controls.

The Doctor flicked one last lever, before finally interrupting the silence that had prevailed on the ship.

"Just one trip. That's what I said." He muttered. "One trip in the TARDIS, and then home." The he looked up, looking at us through his long eyelashes. "Although I suppose we could stretch the definition. Take one trip into the past, on trip into the future. How do you fancy that?"

Martha laughed in relief. "No complaints from me."

I wanted to agree. However, doubt still nagged me. I was just pushing back the inevitable. After this trip, I was going back to Earth, and I would have to start a new life just from scratch. Doable, of course, but no less terrifying.

However, it wasn't as if I could just give up another adventure with the Doctor. Even if my shoulder and my thigh still ached, these were adventures of a lifetime. The last Timelord. Martha didn't know the legend she shared the air with.

I realized the TARDIS had fallen silent once again. Martha and the Doctor stood, stock still, looking at me. They waited for my response.

I smiled, trying to push the nerves away. "Of course. Where to?"

The Doctor grinned. "How about…" He paused, eyes twinkling. "A different planet?"

Martha spoke up. "Can we go to yours?"

I winced, watching as the grin on the Doctor's face vanished. He turned away from Martha, fumbling with the controls.

"Ah," He waved it off. "There's plenty of other places."

"Come on, though." Martha pressed. "I mean, planet of the Time Lords. That's got to be worth a look. What's it like?"

The Doctor's eyes flickered around. They briefly landed on mine, before quickly darting away.

"Well, it's beautiful, yeah." He said.

"Is it like, you know, outer space cities, all spires and stuff?"

"I suppose it is."

"Great big temples and cathedrals!"

"Yeah."

"Lots of planets in the sky?" Martha kept asking, and my heart wrenched with every word.

The Doctor fiddled with something in the console. It was pure instinct, what I did. If I'd thought it out, I probably wouldn't have. However, my hand acted out of its own accord, and suddenly, it was placed over one of the Time Lord's cold hand, stopping his movements with a soft squeeze.

His eyes flickered once again to mine. This time, though, I was close enough to distinguish what churned inside. Sadness. Unimaginable and infinite sadness. So much, and so heartbreaking, it was impossible for a creature so young as me to fully comprehend it.

His eyes stayed glued to mine, almost like a lifeline.

"The sky's a burnt orange," He spoke and his stare never wavered, his eyes shining with something unrecognizable. "With the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever. Slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow."

"Can we go there?"

The spell was broken. He turned around, his hand swiftly sliding away from mine as he walked around the console. Whatever had been in his eyes disappeared, and the cheerful Time Lord returned.

"Nah. Where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home. Instead," He turned a dial, and the TARDIS started shaking. I held to the console as the TARDIS moved. "This is much better. Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth." We landed, and the Doctor quickly shrugged on his coat. "Second hope of mankind. Fifty thousand light years from your old world, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically it's the fifteenth New York from the original," He said, as he slowly opened the door and Martha and I followed him. "So it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. One of the most dazzling cities ever built."

We stepped off into a narrow alleyway, immediately assaulted by rain.

"Oh, that's nice. Time Lord version of dazzling." Martha grumbled.

I grinned as the drops rolled down my face.

"Nah, bit of rain never hurt anyone. Come on, let's get under cover!"

We hurried down the streets, Martha and the Doctor furiously searching for shelter.

"What are you so happy about?" Martha asked me, prompting the Doctor to glance at me.

I couldn't contain my smile. "Oh, I don't know. I love the rain. And New New York. This was the first place I time traveled to, you know?"

We ducked into a new alleyway, Martha and the Doctor's shoulders hunched to protect themselves from the rain. I didn't really care. I had always been one of those people who loved taking walks in the rain just for the sake of it.

"Really?" Martha asked. "Well, it looks like the same old Earth to me, on a Wednesday afternoon."

The Doctor shook his head. "Hold on, hold on. Let's have a look."

He approached an old, rusty, monitor, and took his sonic screwdriver. It buzzed as he turned it on, examining the monitor and trying to make it work.

The image on the screen flickered to life. A woman appeared, her smile big enough to swallow the whole screen hole.

"And the driving should be clear and easy, with fifteen extra lanes open for the New New Jersey expressway." She said.

Another image appeared, and I recognized the city I had once visited. Complete with the huge buildings and the flying cars.

"Oh, that's more like it. That's the view we had last time." The Doctor said, before glancing around. "This must be the lower levels, down in the base of the tower. Some sort of under-city."

"You've brought us to the slums?" Martha asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Much more interesting." He pointed at the screen. "It's all cocktails and glitter up there. This is the _real _city."

Martha shook her head, a small smile on her face. "You'd enjoy anything."

"That's me," The Doctor grinned at us, looking quite adorable with his wet hair plastered to his face. "Ah, the rain's stopping. Better and better. Though perhaps not for Kylie."

I shook my head. "There'll always be a next time for rain."

The Doctor nodded, eyes far away. "I suppose so."

"When you say last time," Martha asked. "Was that you and Rose?"

The Doctor nodded. "Er, yeah. Yeah, it was, yeah."

Martha was frowning. Jealousy was written clearly on her face, and yet, the Doctor seemed to fail to see it. "You're taking us to the same planets that you took her?"

The Doctor nodded, shrugging. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," she replied, sarcastically. "Just ever heard the word rebound?"

Martha stalked off, and the Doctor exchanged a glance with me. I lifted my shoulders, not knowing how to respond.

In a flash, a green stall in front of us opened, bathing us in light. A man in dirty clothing leaned out.

"Oh! You should have said. How long have you been there? Happy." He slapped the counter, before ducking and searching for something. "You want Happy." He tried handing us a packet Martha refused.

The stalls around us followed, suddenly opening one by one and vendors leaning out, grinning at us.

"Customers. Customers! We've got customers!" One said.

"We're in business. Mother, open up the Mellow, and the Read!"

"Happy, Happy, lovely happy Happy!"

"Anger. Buy some Anger!"

"A bit of the Truth?"

"Get some Mellow. Makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long."

"Don't go to them." The first vendor told us. "They'll rip you off. Do you want some Happy?"

"No, thanks," The Doctor said dryly.

"Are they selling drugs?" Martha asked.

"I think they're selling moods," I told them, frowning at the vendors who wouldn't shut up.

"Same thing, isn't it?"

A woman in dark rags entered the small area; her shoulders hunched and face dirty.

"Over here sweetheart!" The vendors started yelling. "That's it, come on, I'll get you first!"

"Oi! Oi, you! Over here! Over here! Buy some Happy!"

The woman finally approached a vendor.

"Come over here, yeah. And what can I get you, my love?"

"I want to buy Forget." The woman said.

"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength? How much to you want forgetting?"

"It's my mother and father," The woman explained. "They went on the motorway."

"Oh, that's a swine. Try this. Forget Forty-three. That's two credits."

"Sorry," The Doctor interrupted the woman, who had just exchanged her money for a small patch of Forget Forty-three. "But hold on a minute. What happened to your parents?"

"They drove off," she replied.

"Yeah, but they might drive back."

"Everyone goes to the motorway in the end." She explained, like it was the simplest thing in the world, and we stood, uncomprehending. "I've lost them."

"But they can't have gone far. You could find them."

The woman didn't hesitate. She placed the patch on her neck, and we watched, amazed, as her weary expression wore off. Her eyes suddenly lit up.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She asked, and her voice was lighter than before.

"Your parents," The Doctor tried reminding her. "Your mother and father. They're on the motorway."

"Are they? That's nice. I'm sorry. I won't keep you." And then, she left, her steps now worry-free.

I frowned after her. "I would never do that." I muttered.

"What?" Martha asked.

"Choose to forget. She's a coward."

"But wouldn't it be nice?" She said. "Your worries disappear. Every bad thing that's ever happened."

I glanced at the Doctor, who wasn't paying attention to us. He probably would also never choose to forget. As bad as some memories were, they became part of us.

I shook my head. "No. As much as it would hurt, I'd rather remember. The things we go through make us who we are what now. Make us stronger, in a way, as cheesy as that sounds. You learn from your experiences."

Silence resurfaced between us as we watched the vendors bicker over their goods.

Martha shook her head as she watched, disappointed. "So that's the human race five billion years in the future. Off their heads on chemicals."

I frowned. "It wasn't like this the last time I-"

Martha's scream interrupted me.

A man held her from behind, holding her as she struggled. Another woman joined him, holding a gun in her hand, pointed straight at my chest. The vendor's drew their stalls closed, leaving us alone.

"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry." The man said. "We just need three, that's all."

"No, let her go!" The Doctor growled. "I'm warning you, let her go! Whatever you want, I can help. The three of us can help. But first you've got to let her go."

"I'm sorry," The woman mimicked the man, walking backwards. Her voice sounded suspiciously close to a sob. "I'm really sorry. Sorry."

The Doctor and I followed them, slowly, wary of the gun. It was all happening so fast, I had no idea what to do, how to help. They dragged Martha through a green door, slamming it shut before we could reach them and slamming the lock home.

The Doctor struggled with the door, finally reaching for his sonic screwdriver before he ultimately managed it open.

"Kylie! Come on!" He growled, and I followed him through the alleys and passages, running.

We jumped over trash and cardboards, finally reaching an opening. However, all we saw was one of those flying cars, black, swiftly taking into the air and leaving.

"_Martha!" _he cried, but it was already too late.

* * *

The Doctor stalked back towards the vendors. His back was straight and tense, and his face completely stony. His eyes were the worst, however. They crackled with anger, a lightning storm lighting within.

He hammered on one of the closed hatches, before pouncing on the vendor and demanding information.

I wandered off, approaching another vendor and knocking.

"Hello! Want some mellow Mellow?" The woman inside asked after opening the hatch. She swayed in her seat, her eyes droopy as she watched me.

I frowned. "No, thanks. Do you know where those people could have taken my friend?"

She waved it off. "To the motorway, of course. How about some Happy?"

I glared. "No."

"Hmm, I'd offer you some Anger but it seems that between you and your bloke over there you have enough."

I rolled my eyes. "Not _my_ bloke."

Her eyes widened, and a grin inched up her face. "Oh! I see how it is. You're too afraid to tell him what you really feel."

I furrowed my brow. "What? No. That's not it."

"I have just the thing for that!" She ignored me. Her arm suddenly flashed in a move so fast I would have never expected it from the drowsy woman. I felt the slap on my neck, and I stared at her, wide eyed and stunned, before finally reacting and throwing the patch away.

"What did you do?" I growled.

"Attraction fifty-two. Enough for you to _show _him how you really feel."

"Take it away." I ordered.

She shrugged. "Can't. How do you feel?"

The words slipped from my tongue before I could stop them. "Like I want to punch you in the face right now."

The hatch slipped close with a bang, closing the woman inside.

I hurried over to the Doctor, wondering why my throat had suddenly started to tingle. I scrubbed away my neck, trying to take whatever the patch had left off.

"The motorway," The Doctor was saying. "How do I get there?"

"Straight down the alley, keep going to the end. You canna miss it." The vendor paused, a smile lighting up her face. "Tell you what. How about some happy Happy? Then you'll be smiling!"

"Word of advice, all of you," He said, as he took my hand. His face was stony, and his voice steely. "Cash up, close down and pack your bags."

"Why's that, then?" The vendor asked.

"Because as soon as I've found her, alive and well, and I _will_ find her alive and well, then I'm coming back, and this street is closing tonight!"

With that, he turned on his heel, his hand dragging me behind, worried and throat tingling.

His voice still rang in my ears. And as improbable as his words were, as impossible as his claim sounded, I couldn't find it in myself to doubt him for a second.

* * *

_Well, Kylie is officially drugged with Attraction 52! *evil laugh* this is gonna be fun :D_


	10. You've Got To Be Kitten Me

_Tenth chapter guys! This is so exciting :D_

_So, yeah, I'm not entirely happy with this one. I've been thinking of changing the Attraction patch to a Truthful patch or something, and play with Kylie's secrets. But I wasn't too happy with that, since I want the Doctor to trust her a little bit more before _that _happens._

_That being said, tell me what you think? :) I probably won't change it, now that it's done, but please tell me if you do like this._

_Thanks for all the new follows/favorites/reviews! You guys are the best:)_

* * *

Something was wrong.

The tingling had spread, and now my whole body felt like it was asleep, and I had to move for it to wake up. Run, jump, crawl, _anything._

Instead, I walked calmly just a step behind the Doctor, watching how his shoulders moved as he walked, _stalked, _towards the motorway. He had let go of my hand a while ago, and I sensed he was in no mood for small talk.

I didn't know if I should tell him. I didn't know if the attraction patch had been on long enough to actually do anything. If being Osirien would dilute its effects, if I was immune to the human drug. I didn't know how the Doctor would react if he realized I was getting us into more trouble.

It seemed I didn't know much, lately.

Before, I'd thought myself something of a connoisseur. I'd travelled through time and space, of course I would have experienced more than the average bloke. But, next to the Doctor, I almost felt as inexperienced as Martha Jones seemed to be.

The Doctor stopped on his tracks, and turned back to me. I ran my eyes over his face, relieved when I realized his anger was gone. Or simply well hidden. It could easily be either way with him.

"You okay?" He asked, and his voice was low and rich, and I liked how it slipped over my skin.

"Kylie?" He asked again, and I realized I had distracted myself with the tone of his voice. He stepped in close to me, and, before I could warn him, pressed his hands on either side of my head, staring into my eyes.

"Martha's going to be okay," he reassured me. "I'll make sure of it."

His words washed over me. Every nerve in my body was concentrated on one single thing: his hands on my skin.

The tingling went crazy, rushing through my body and becoming rather pleasurable. I noticed how his hair had dried, letting the soft tufts of it stand in every direction. His eyes were a lovely brown, changing in intensity every so often. His nose, the way his eyebrows arched, suddenly the Doctor had become the most handsome man I had ever seen.

"Doctor," I gasped, fighting for self-control. "Please step away."

No, I wanted him to step closer. To feel his body heat on mine. To run my hands through his hair and see if it really was as soft as it looked. For our noses to bump before we finally-

The Doctor was staring at me strangely. "What?"

I slowly smiled at him, holding his eyes, and placed my hands on his narrow hips. "You either step away right now, or you step in closer."

"What?" He said, and his voice rose in pitch.

I shrugged, and took a step forward. Our clothes barely brushed.

"_Doctor," _I said, and I wasn't sure if it was a warning or a plea.

His eyes widened before he finally took his hands off my head, stepping back and I let my hands fall to my sides. I sighed, though it could have been from relief or disappointment.

He took out his sonic screwdriver, quickly running it over me. His head turned sharply over to me.

"Kylie," he growled. "What did you do?"

I couldn't contain myself. I stepped forward, shivering when the sonic screwdriver's warm tip connected with my collarbone.

"Me?" I asked, and I noticed my voice had gone a bit lower. "Nothing."

His hand took my jaw, and I smirked, pleased. He angled my head side to side, eyeing my flushed skin and my eyes.

"Did you get a patch?" He asked, angrily, letting go of my jaw.

I couldn't have him angry with me. I shook my head. "I was asking for information when one of the vendors decided that we should be together. Something about an Attraction patch, fifty-something. She slapped it right over my neck."

"Did you pay for it?"  
"Of course not. Got angry with her."

He nodded, deciding to believe me. "Attraction, you said?"

I hummed in agreement, my hands itching to touch him.

He frowned. "Maybe you should stay in the TARDIS until I get back."

That snapped me a bit from my daze. "No!" I paused, trying to compose myself. "I want to help. I'll just try to stay away from you. But please, let me help you."

He considered it, before finally relenting. "Alright. Just," He paused, flushing a little. "Just try keeping your hands to yourself."

I winced. "Yeah, yeah."

He turned, and continued through the hallway. I followed, running my eyes over his figure.

He didn't want me touching, but there was no harm in looking, was there?

The Doctor led me to a metal door. It was rusty and thick, making it difficult for the Doctor to deal with it. However, the second he opened the door, exhaust fumes rushed us, and we found ourselves coughing and with stinging eyes.

I held my arms to my face as I looked around. Rows and rows of flying cars stood in front of me, going up and down. Everywhere I could see, the cars all faced the same direction, and they didn't move.

The car in front of us suddenly opened the door. A figure in a World War Two flying jacket, complete with a helmet, goggles, and a white scarf appeared, urging us in with a gloved hand.

"Hey! You daft little street struts!" He called in an Irish accent. "What are you doing standing there? Either get out or get in. Come on!"

The Doctor and I exchanged panicked looks, before rushing to the car and stumbling in.

We gasped for breath, trying to expel all the gas fumes from our lungs.

"Did you ever see the like?" The man exclaimed.

A woman turned from the front seat, quickly handing us both oxygen masks.

"Here you go." The woman said, smiling. I slipped mine on, breathing in the clean air.

"Just standing there, breathing it in." The man continued.

Then, he took off the scarf and the goggles, revealing a very cat-like face, full with whiskers and fur over his face. I grinned under my mask, remembering very cool cat-like people from the last time I had traveled to New New York.

"There's this story," He said. "Says back in the old days, on Juction forty seven, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet."

The woman waved him off. "Oh, you're making it up"

"A fifty foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose."

She made a face. "Oh, stop it. That's disgusting."

"What, did you never pick your nose?"

The woman suddenly started, tapping the man's arm. "Bran, we're moving."

"Right. I'm there. I'm on it."

He pulled a lever, and we moved, though it was short lived. Perhaps two yards or three.

"Twenty yards." He said. "We're having a good day." Then he turned to us. "And who might you be, you two? Very well dressed for hitchhikers."

The Doctor took off his mask and grinned. I followed, not taking my eyes from his face. That man became very attractive when he let his joy run though.

"Thanks. Sorry, I'm the Doctor."

I smiled. "And I'm Kylie."

The man smiled back. "My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."

Valerie smiled back, fondly. "Nice to meet you."

Brannigan pointed towards the back of the vehicle. "And that's the rest of the family behind you."

The Doctor drew a curtain back, revealing a litter of kittens, some even with bows around their necks, in a basket.

I smiled, hearing their soft mewls as I approached them, picking one up.

"Aww, they're so cute." I said, stroking the kitten's fur. He purred, closing his eyes.

"Thank you," Valerie grinned.

The Doctor approached me, using a finger to scratch the kitten's chin. I tensed, relishing in his closeness, but he didn't seem to be aware of it. "Ah, that's nice. Hello. How old are they?"

"Just two months." The mother said.

"Poor little souls." Brannigan shook his head. "They've never known the ground beneath their paws. Children of the motorway.

We stared, surprised. "What, they were born in here?" The Doctor asked.

"We couldn't stop. We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance."

"Wait." I interrupted. "How long have you been driving for?"

"It's close to twelve years now." Brannigan mentioned, as if it was nothing.

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor said, in disbelief.

The cat-like man nodded. "Yeah! Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday."

"Feels like twelve years to me." Valerie teased.

"Ah, sweetheart, but you still love me."

I smiled at their teasing.

"Twelve years?" The Doctor continued, astonished. "How far did you come? Where did you start?"

"Battery Park. It's five miles back."

I felt my eyes widen. "You travelled five miles in twelve years?"

Brannigan exchanged a look with Valerie. "I think they're a bit slow."

"Where are you from?" Valerie asked.

"Never mind that." The Doctor waved her off. "We've got to get out. My friend's in one of these cars. She was taken hostage. We should get back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor slid the door open, immediately coughing as the fumes entered his system. I watched, wide eyed, noticing that there was no road to get to.

"You're too late for that." Brannigan explained, shrugging. "We've passed the lay-by. You two are passengers now."

"When's the next lay-by?" The Doctor asked, closing the door.

Brannigan hesitated, calculating. "Oh, six months?"

We exchanged glances, and in his, I could see reflected what I felt.

Despair.

* * *

The Doctor wasn't one to keep still for long.

He brushed past me on the way to the monitor, eliciting a shudder he fortunately didn't notice. This man was making 'keeping my hands to myself' pretty damn difficult.

But, who could really blame me? I could see what Martha saw in him. What Rose probably also had. This man was so much more than he appeared to be. The way he carried himself, his willingness to help, to protect, he was absolutely _wonderful_.

Not to mention his looks. He was attractive in an unusual way. Tall and lanky, but graceful. His hair permanently in disarray, made me want to make it messier with my hands. The way his coat fitted him and defined his shoulders made me crazy curious to see what lay beneath. His arms, I was so _bloody _curious to see how they looked like.

I wanted to see his eyes change. Not with sadness or mirth, but with desire. To make him forget about all the bad things for just a minute. To see his cheeks stain pink and feel his hands on me.

The sound of a throat clearing snapped me from my daze. I turned to my side, meeting Valerie's eyes.

"You're undressing him with your eyes," She noticed, a smile in her voice.

I blushed. "Ugh. That obvious?"

She chuckled, holding two fingers up, a pinch apart. "Just a little bit."

I shook my head, trying to dispel my thoughts. "A vendor slapped an Attraction patch on me earlier today. It's been driving me crazy."

"Oh. How strong was it?"

I frowned. "Fifty-something."

She made a small sound of surprise. "Fifty-something? I'm amazed you're not throwing yourself at him right this moment."

I winced. "It's that strong?"

She nodded.

"I'm not human. A bit stronger. That's probably it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What are you then? You certainly look Human."

"Osirien."

She shrugged. "Sorry. Never heard of you."

I waved it off. "I'm not surprised. We keep to ourselves, and it's a long way from here."

We turned our attention back to the Doctor, who was saying something about the Duke of Manhattan, and getting through to him.

"Oh now, ain't you lordly?" Brannigan said.

"I've got to find my friend," the Doctor responded with all the seriousness in the world.

"You can't make outside calls," Valerie said. "The motorway's completely enclosed."

"What about the other cars?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, we've got contact with them, yeah." Brannigan nodded. "Well, some of them, anyway. They've got to be on your friends list. Now, let's see." He pressed something on a monitor. "Ah! The Cassini sisters!"

An image flickered to life in the monitor, showing two older women, the typical old ladies, one was even knitting.

"Still your hearts, my handsome girls," Brannigan continued. "It's Brannigan here."

"Get off the line, Brannigan." The lady called Alice said. "You're a pest and a menace."

"Oh, come on, now, sisters. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"

"You know full well we're not sisters. We're married."

"Ooh, stop that modern talk. I'm an old-fashioned cat. Now, I've got some hitchhikers here, call themselves Kylie and the Doctor."

The Doctor took the radio from Brannigan. "Hello. Sorry. I'm looking for someone called Martha Jones. She's been carjacked. She's inside one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one."

The lady knitting put down her work and picked up a large book, before leafing through it. "Wait a minute," she said. "Could I ask, what entrance did they use?"

"Where were we?" The Doctor asked Brannigan.

"Pharmacy Town."

"Pharmacy Town," he repeated to the sisters that apparently weren't sisters. "About twenty minutes ago."

"Let's have a look," The lady, May, said as she searched the book.

"Just my luck," Alice said fondly. "To marry a car-spotter."

"In the last half hour, fifty three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction," she informed us.

"Anything more specific?" The Doctor asked.

"All in good time. Was she car-jacked by two people?"

"Yes, she was, yeah."

"There we are. Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane. That means they have three on board. And car number is four six five diamond six."

I grinned, finally sensing the progress.

"That's it!" The Doctor exclaimed. "So how do we find them?"

"Ah." May said. "Now there I'm afraid I can't help."

"Call them on this thing." The Doctor said. "We've got their number. Diamond six."

Brannigan shook his head. "But not if they're designated fast lane. It's a different class."

"You could try the police," May advised.

The Doctor frowned. "They put me on hold."

"You'll have to keep trying. There's no one else."

The Doctor sighed. "Thank you."

Brannigan turned the radio off.

A brief silence followed, and I watched the Doctor, seeing how he ran through all the possibilities in his mind.

"We've got to go to the fast lane." He decided. "Take me down."

Brannigan shook his head. "Not in a million years."

"You've got more than three passengers." The Doctor exclaimed.

"I'm still not going."

"She's alone and she's lost. She doesn't belong on this planet, and it's all my fault. I'm asking you, Brannigan, take me down."

"That's a no." Valerie snapped. "And that's final. I'm not risking the children down there."

"Why?" I asked. "What's down there?"

"We're not discussing it," she said. "The conversation is closed."

"So we keep on driving," the Doctor stated.

Brannigan nodded. "Yes, we do."

"For how long?" The Doctor burst out.

"Till the journey's end."

The Doctor made to grab the radio again, but I stopped him with a hand in the arm. I ignored the tingles that spread, and instead, focused on the more serious situation at hand. I knew the Doctor wanted to convince them, and he was about to do anything in his power to do so.

"Doctor, don't," I said. "I think I know what you're going to do, and it won't help. We can't just scare them into helping us. I think we both know what's happening, that the police will never come back, that we may just be going in endless circles, but we can't force them. They have kids here, we can't ask them to put them at risk."

The Doctor stared at me. "Then what? We do nothing? Wait months?"

I shook my head. "No, we find another way out. There's always another way."

His eyes held mine, and I shivered.

"Alright."

I let a breath out in relief, and grinned. My hand on his arm tightened a little. "I like it when you listen to me," I said, winking. "Now, if we could just-"

The Doctor stepped back, dislodging my hold on him.

"_Kylie," _he warned, though he didn't seem angry.

I shrugged.

The monitor once again flickered to life, and the same reporter as before appeared on the screen.

"This is Sally Calypso," She said on screen. "And it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation. This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive safe."

Then the music began. Softly, at first, before increasing in volume. I watched as Brannigan and Valerie joined in to the anthem. The Doctor and I exchanged glances, not entirely comfortable.

"If you won't take us," The Doctor said when the song was finally over. "I'll go down on my own."

He jumped up, running to the back of the car. He used his sonic screwdriver on a hatch in the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" Brannigan asked.

"Finding my own way. I usually do."

"Capsule open." The computer said.

The hatch opened, and I joined the Doctor as we stared down, watching the hundreds of cars below.

The Doctor turned to me. "You stay here. I'll come back for you later."

I burst out laughing, confusing the Doctor. He stared at me, but I waved him off. "As if! I'm coming with you. One way or another. You'd have to tie me up, otherwise, though I'd prefer if we did that later." I winked.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he blushed as his voice rose in pitch. "What? No, no, no."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm coming. That's final."

He sighed, but finally conceeded. He shrugged off his coat, throwing it to Valerie. "Look after this. I love that coat. Janis Joplin gave me that coat."

"But you can't jump!" Valerie cried.

"If it's any consolation, Valerie, right now, I'm having kittens."

I grinned. "I'm trying not to think about it."

"This Martha," Brannigan began. "She must mean an awful lot to both of you."

He shrugged. "Hardly know her. I was too busy showing off. And I lied to her. Couldn't help it, just lied." He took a big breath. "Ready, Kylie?"

"I don't think you can ever be ready for stuff like this," I said, eyeing the car down below.

He gave a breathy laugh. "True. I'm going first. I'll catch you." Then he glanced back at Valerie and Brannigan. "Bye then.

Then he dropped, and I watched, almost feeling like I was the one dropping. He landed safely, if a little bit wobbly.

"He's completely insane!" Valerie exclaimed.

Brannigan laughed. "That, and a bit magnificent!"

I sighed. "I couldn't agree more."

And then, I jumped.


	11. Motorway Foot Patrol, At Your Service

_Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I didn't notice the format was all weird :/ I had to repost this._

_Thank you Ruby for noticing! I was in a hurry so I didn't have time to check like I usually do that everything's alright._

_So embarrassing:(_

_Anyway, enjoy! And maybe read again? Ugh, I don't know. Sorry! _

* * *

_And then, I jumped._

The Doctor caught me like he said he would, and his touch set me on fire.

He held me by the waist as my feet dangled in the air. For once, we were the same height, face-to-face, noses millimeters from each other and our eyes closer than ever before.

He slowly set me down, my body sliding down his. I shuddered in delight, and wished more than ever for the Doctor to be easier to read. That man was an enigma, one that hid his thoughts and feelings expertly behind walls. Right this moment his face was unreadable.

The small moment was broken. We broke apart, coughing as we inhaled the fumes. He crouched down, using his screwdriver to unlock the car's hatch. He helped me in first, before sliding down behind me.

"Capsule open," The computer announced.

A man, incredibly pale and bald, entirely dressed in white clothing, stared at us. His jaw had dropped, and he stared at us suspiciously.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, bewildered.

"Sorry, Motorway Foot Patrol," The Doctor gasped, trying to inhale the clean air.

"Both of you?" he asked.

I linked my hand through the Doctor's. "Nah. I'm just his partner. Don't want him getting lonely on the road." I winked, squeezing the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor shot me a wide-eyed look. "Um, yeah. We're, uh, we're doing a survey. How are you enjoying your motorway?"

"Well," The man sighed. "Not very much. Junction Five's been closed for three years."

The Doctor freed his hand from mine, and crouched to open the floor hatch. "Thank you. Your comments have been noted. Have a nice day!"

He dropped down, and then held his hands up to me to repeat the process. This time, however, he tried to hold me up the least time possible, almost letting me drop.

We entered the new car through the hatch.

"Capsule open," The computer repeated.

Two young Asian women sat inside, staring at us.

"Hello, just passing through." The Doctor grinned.

I made a face. "Sorry."

"Hey, do you mind if we borrow these?" The Doctor held up two purple headscarves. He handed one to me before placing his over his nose and mouth and tying it behind. I copied his actions.

"Not really my color," He continued. "But thank you very much."

Then we dropped again.

This time, I made sure to stumble down, making him having to catch me, holding me closer like the first time.

He scowled. "I know what you're doing."

I grinned under my scarf.

He must've noticed the smile in my eyes because he simply rolled his eyes good naturedly before opening the next hatch.

"Capsule open."

A man and a woman turned on their seats.

"Oooh! Don't mind us!" The Doctor quickly said, trying to shield my eyes with his hand.

I ducked, trying to see. I quickly found out that the Attraction Patch wasn't particular to the Doctor.

"Well, _lookie _here," I said, grinning at the two nudists.

"Nope! No looking!" The Doctor exclaimed before grabbing me by the waist and yet again falling to the next level.

"Jealous, Doctor?" I asked, as I watched him open the next hatch.

I could only see his eyes, but I knew, I just _knew, _he was blushing.

"No."

I winked at him. "Sure."

We entered the next car.

"Capsule open."

The man that turned around on his chair sent my senses into haywire.

_This _man was perfection. Gold strands framed his face. Stark cheekbones and a defined jaw. Startling green eyes. And a perfectly nice, _shirtless, _body.

I smiled at him, lowering the headscarf until it hung around my neck.

"Hello," I purred.

A smile inched up his perfect face. "Hello."

"Goodbye!" The Doctor interrupted before using his sonic screwdriver.

It didn't work.

"Why isn't it working?" The Doctor growled, lowering the headscarf until his frown was visible.

"This is a newer model," Adonis explained, though his eyes didn't leave mine. "It can only be opened by the pilot."

"Then open it!"

"No, I'd rather she stay." He grinned.

I smiled slowly. "I agree."

I started approaching him. The Doctor stopped me, though, grabbing me by the waist and positioning me so his chest blocked my view of the Greek god.

My eyes widened in surprise and satisfaction as both his arms slid around my midriff, our chests pressed together, and he ducked, mouth brushing my ear as he spoke.

"Tell him to open the hatch," he breathed. My eyes almost rolled back in pleasure. "Then we can leave. Both of us. _Just _the both of us."

"That's not fair," I gasped. "You're playing me."

"Please?"

And then, he kissed the spot just beneath my ear.

Kissed. It.

And it was sexy as hell.

I pushed the Doctor away, panting.

"Ugh. I can't even get angry with you," I said, staring at him wide-eyed, trying to resist the urge to blush.

I fought to get my senses back in control, but the only thing I found I wanted was for the Doctor to kiss me again. His eyes were dark from the low lighting, and his face unreadable, and I fought really, _really, _hard to stop myself from throwing myself at him.

I glanced at the handsome man, who didn't look nearly as appealing as before. He was staring at us, eyebrows arched.

"Open it, please?" I smiled at him winningly.

"Whatever."

He opened it, and the Doctor and I dropped down again. I sighed as his hands caught me.

"I'm conflicted," I told him as I waited for him to open the hatch. "I feel like I should really be angry at you right now." I sighed. "But I just want you to do that again."

He glanced at me quickly, a red tint in his cheeks. "That's the patch talking."

Then he dropped inside the car.

"I hope so," I whispered, following him.

"Capsule open."

A man in a bowler hat and a pinstripe suit stared at us.

"Excuse me, is that legal?" he asked in a posh accent.

"Sorry." The Doctor said. "Motorway Foot Patrol." He started coughing. "Whatever. Have you got any water?"

"Certainly. Never let it be said I've lost my manners." He said, as he served water in a paper cup. "You want some too?" He asked me.

I smiled in gratitude. "Please."

The Doctor and I drank our waters quickly, though I suspected I was parched for another reason entirely.

"Is this the last layer?" The Time Lord asked.

"We're right at the bottom. Nothing below us but the fast lane."

"Can we drive down?"

"Of course not. Haven't you heard the sounds?"

The Doctor shrugged it off, though my interest was claimed.

"What do you mean, sounds?"

"Haven't you heard them?" The man asked. "They are loud and- wait. You can't jump! It's a thousand feet down."

The Doctor had the floor hatch open, and he peered outside.

"No, I just want to look." He muttered, but was interrupted by a loud, roaring growl. "What's that noise?"

The man with the bowler hat shook his head, glancing towards me. "I try not to think about it."

The Doctor squinted as he looked into the depths. "What are those lights? What's down there? I just need to see."

He rushed over to the controls in the car, using his sonic screwdriver.

"There must be some sort of ventilation," he muttered. "If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, maybe I could trip the system, give us a bit of a breeze."

He dismantled the dashboard until only cables remained. The man simply watched, not knowing what to do. I could relate, knowing how difficult it was to deny anything to the Doctor.

I sighed.

"That's it!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look."

The three of us leaned over the hatch, looking down. We could only see shapes and the occasional claw snapping through the air.

"What are those shapes?" The man asked.

"They're alive." The Doctor muttered.

"Doctor," I muttered. "Are those what I think they are?" I asked.

"What the hell are they?"

"Macra," The Doctor and I said at the same time.

"They used to be the scourge of this galaxy." The Doctor explained. "Gas. They fed off gas, the filthier the better. They built up a small empire using humans as slaves and mining gas for food."

"They don't exactly look like empire builders to me."

"Well, that was billions of years ago. Billions. They must have devolved down the years. Now they're just beasts. But they're still hungry and our friend's down there."

We froze as we heard a clang on the roof.

"Oh, it's like New Times Square in here, for goodness's sake!" Bowler hat exclaimed.

A cat-like woman dropped in, dressed as a nun.

The Doctor shrugged. "I've invented a sport."

"Doctor," she gasped. "You're a hard man to find."

"No guns!" Bowler hat cried, pointing at her gun. "I'm not having guns."

"I only brought this in case of pirates," she reasoned. "Doctor' you've got to come with me."

The Doctor burrowed his brow. "Do I know you?"

"You haven't aged at all. Time has been less kind to me."

The Doctor's eyes widened in realization as he suddenly took her by the shoulders. "Novice Hame! No, hold on, get off." He stepped away. "Last time we met, you were breeding humans for experimentation."

I raised my eyebrows in bemusement. "Oh, Doctor. The people you meet."

"I've sought forgiveness, Doctor, for so many years, under his guidance. And if you come with me, I might finally be able to redeem myself."

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere. You've got Macra living underneath this city. Macra! And if my friend's still alive, she's stuck down there."

"No," Novice Hame insisted. "You've got to come with me right now."

"No, no, no, you're coming with us."

"I'm sorry, Doctor. But the situation is even worse than you can imagine."

Then she took his arm by the wrist, pulling him over to her.

"Transport," She commanded.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare!"

I wasn't sure what was happening, but something was clear- the Doctor wasn't leaving me behind.

I threw myself forward and just as my hand clenched around his arm, we transported.

The landing should have been rough.

It wasn't.

And I felt my body sing.

The Doctor was coughing beneath me, and I watched, amused, as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

"Why, Doctor," I couldn't help tease. "I never pegged you for being one of those who like it better on the bottom."

His eyes met mine as his widened, the spectacular blush once again decorating his cheeks.

"What? No, no, no. Get off. Please," He said, squirming.

I kissed the spot on his jaw, and he stilled immediately.

"What?" His voice was even higher than before. "No. Stop that."

"Just returning the favor."

I felt his weight shift, and suddenly we rolled until he was on top.

I smirked. "That's more like it."

But his weight disappeared as he got up, brushing himself off and looking away. "Novice Hame!" he called, and continued once he found her. "You can go straight back down and teleport people out, starting with Martha."

"I only had the power for one trip."

"Then get some more! Where are we?"

I took the opportunity to look around once I'd stood up. The floor was a mess, full of dust and rubbish. The walls looked like they were ready to fall down at any minute. I wandered around, trying to see through the darkness.

"High above, in the over-city." Novice Hame explained.

I bumped into a wall, and I looked up, seeing something suspiciously close to the spectator seats you found around the sports games all around the galaxy.

"Good. Because you can tell the Senate of New New York I'd like a word. They have got thousands of people trapped on the motorway. Millions!"

I took some steps back, and squinted through the darkness. "Umm, Doctor?" I said, realizing those were not stadium seats.

"But you're _inside _the Senate, right now!" Novice Hame exclaimed. "May the goddess Santori bless them."

The she did something, turning the lights on. It was just as I suspected. Rows and rows of seats stood before me, and each occupied by a single skeleton. The Senate.

"They died, Doctor." She said tearfully. "The city died."

"How long's it been like this?" He asked, softly.

"Twenty-four years."

"All of them? Everyone? What happened?"

_Kylie._

I snapped to attention, wildly looking around. Someone had called my name.

_Kylie. _He said, and it was a _he_, and it almost seemed like he was laughing. _Come here._

I followed his instructions, trying to find the mental voice's source, as strange as that sounded. I turned a corner, and came face to face with a huge water talk, empty, with a strange creature inside.

It was just a head, a brownish-red, old and huge. The expression on his face was completely human-like, complete with sparkling eyes and a small, old smile.

"Umm, who are you?" I asked.

Something resembling a chuckle echoed in my head. _Some call me the Face of Boe._

"Some? What else do they call you?" I asked, curiously.

_You'll find out soon enough._

I frowned. "Okay then. Um, what do you want?

_To talk, mostly. _Then he paused. _I haven't seen you in a long time._

"You know me?"

_Your future, my past, _he explained. Then his eyes shifted behind me. _Doctor._

"The Face of Boe!" The Doctor exclaimed.

The Face of Boe sounded pleased. _I knew you two would come._

"Back in the old days," Novice Hame clarified. "I was made his nurse as penance for my sin."

The Doctor approached the glass. "Old friend, what happened to you?"

_Failing, _was his one-word explanation.

"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke," The Novice said. "But with no one to maintain it, the City's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea."

"So he saved them," I muttered, looking at the creature in admiration.

"The Face of Be wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running."

The Doctor turned to look at her. "But there are planets out there. You could have called for help."

"The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years."

"So the two of you stayed here," The Doctor said, almost pityingly. "On your own, for all these years."

"We had no choice."

He placed a hand on Novice Hame's shoulder, and his eyes were soft. "Yes you did."

_Save them, Doctor. Save them._


	12. That's What We All Do, In The End

_So, sorry about the problems on the last chapter. All fixed up! Again, thank you Ruby._

_Just so you know, it's not always going to be like this - every episode, in order, from every season. Some changes are coming, though I still haven't decided exactly _when. _I'm thinking nine's gonna make an appearance... you'll see how._

_Anyway, enjoy!:)_

* * *

The Doctor approached a computer, and I peered over his shoulder as he worked.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Trying to see if I can find Martha," He muttered.

We settled then, falling into silence as we lost ourselves in our thoughts.

I was content just with watching and breathing in his scent. His face was entertaining, how his mouth twisted every now and then and his brow furrowed in concentration.

He straightened out, frustrated, as his eyes bored into mine. "I can't work with you watching me like that."

"Like what?" I asked, curious.

"Like, like," He stuttered, trying to find the word, his arms waving around. "Like you want to jump me!"

I chuckled. "Let's not get hasty, Doctor. You haven't even asked me for a drink yet."

"Asked you for a drink?"

I grinned salaciously. "A drink? That would be lovely. I propose that when this is all over and done with, we go to the spinning restaurant in Eros."

His eyes widened. "Eros? No, no, no."

"You know it then?" I laughed. "Come on, it's not like it's a bad place to be."

He shook his head. "That's a place for couples."

"So?"

"No."

I sighed. "You're just no fun."

"Can I just work, please?" he asked, exasperated. "We need to find Martha."

"Oh, alright."

I leaned back against the wall and rested my head back against it, staring up at the ceiling as I heard him work.

"Car four six five diamond six!" The Doctor suddenly cried. "It still registers! That's Martha. I knew she was good. Kylie, hold that in place."

I obeyed, approaching the computer and taking over the controls, holding the lever the Doctor had instructed me to.

The Doctor started pacing and muttering to himself, "Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity grid."

"There's not enough power!" Novice Hame cried.

"Oh, you've got power. You've got me. I'm brilliant with computers, just you watch. Kylie, every switch on that bank up to maximum. I can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people."

"So what are you going to do?" Hame asked.

"This!" he yelled, throwing a big switch.

The lights went out, and I cursed, knowing his plan had failed.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The Doctor exclaimed. "The transformers are blocked. The signal can't get through."

_Doctor, _the Face of Boe interrupted.

"Yeah, hold on, not now."

_I give you my last,_ the Face of Boe continued.

With his words, the lights and the computer came back to life.

"Hame, look after him!" He yelled, rushing around. "Don't you go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this," He said, once again throwing down the big lever. "The open road. Ha!"

He ran to the computer's screen, fiddling with the controls.

"What's happening?" I asked him.

"I just freed all of the cars. I've opened the motorway. Now I'm just sending an hologram." He turned on the camera, and smiled. "Sorry, no Sally Calypso. She was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor. I've opened the roof of the motorway. Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you. the whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast! We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way." He paused, before adding, "Oi! Car four six five diamond six. Martha! Drive up! You've got access above, now go!"

The Doctor seemed lost in his excitement, but I didn't miss the way Hame worried over the Face of Boe, or his pained face. I had the bad feeling he was dying, that he had given too much.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked Novice Hame quietly.

"I don't think so," Hame whispered tearfully.

_Don't worry about me, Kylie, _the Face of Boe said, slowly.

"How can I not?" I asked. "You're dying."

_But this isn't _your_ end. You'll still see me, in your future._

"But right _now-"_

_Princess, _he warned.

I was surprised at the endearment. It seemed the Face of Boe and I would become close, somehow, in my future.

_Believe me when I tell you there are no finer people to meet my end with. _

Slowly, a crack began to appear on his glass tank. I could feel the tears threatening to spill over. I barely knew this creature, but there was something in him, so noble, so _old_, that I didn't want to see go.

"How much do you know about me?" I asked, trying to distract him and myself from the inevitable.

_More than you'd think. I know what worries you now. Your secret._

"And? Should I tell him?"

_The moment will come. You'll recognize it when it's time. _

I couldn't resist the next question. "How will he react?"

There was a sound I could almost recognize as a breathy laugh. _You'll see. And when he does, you need to learn to forgive him. That's what we all do, in the end. Forgive him._

"For what? Why do 'we' all forgive him for?"

There was a prolonged pause. _For leaving us._

There was no time to take that in. The crack on the glass grew and grew, and I watched in horror.

"Doctor!" I managed to cry.

He looked over, and his excitement completely disappeared.

The glass finally broke, and the Face of Boe fell. The Doctor, Hame, and I rushed to him trying to move him from the glass and make him more comfortable.

Then we sat around him, sharing in the silence as we waited.

"What's that?" I heard Martha's voice suddenly ask. I was torn out of my thoughts, and as much as I tried, I couldn't manage to bring back my excitement that she was all right and well.

"It's the Face of Boe," was the Doctor's sad reply. "It's all right. Come and say hello. And this is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry." Then he paused. "He's the one that saved you, not me."

"My lord gave his life to save the city," Novice Hame said. "And now he's dying."

Martha approached us and sat beside Hame.

"No, don's say that." The Doctor said quietly. "Not old Boe. Plenty of life left."

_It's good to breathe the air once more, _The Face rasped.

"Who is he?" Martha asked.

"I don't even know. Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."

_Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most._

"The legend says more," Novice Hame pitched in.

"Don't," The Doctor interrupted. "There's no need for that."

But she continued. "It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller."

The Doctor waved her off. "Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?"

I would have laughed. In any other situation, I would have. Who needs secrets?_ Not me, _I thought, sarcastically.

_I have seen so much. _The Face of Boe said. _Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, as you are the last of yours, Doctor._

"That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go."

_I must. But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone._

My eyes flew wide open as I stared across the Face of Boe at the Doctor, who's only sign of having heard was the slight furrow in his forehead.

_You are not alone. _

The words ran through my head. Could it be true?

The _whoosh _of air brought my attention back to the Face of Boe. I watched, and finally a tear rolled down my cheek.

The Face of Boe had breathed his last breath.

* * *

We were back at Pharmacy Town. The stalls were all shut down, with _Closed! _signs at the front. The fumes still clogged my nose and the ground was littered, but the place was empty, everyone presumably having left in chance to find a better life.

"All closed down." The Doctor said, pleased.

"Happy?" Martha asked.

"Happy happy. New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs. Cats in charge." Then he paused, like he remembered something. "Uh, Kylie? How you holding up?"

I had been quiet since leaving the Senate. My arms were crossed over my chest, my hands clenched over my biceps. My body had started to shake somewhere on the ride between the Senate and Pharmacy Town.

I glanced up at the Doctor, and I couldn't stop the smirk that inched up my mouth. "Still want to jump you, if that's what you're asking. Though I think I'm going into withdrawals."

Martha seemed to choke on herself. "_What _did you just say?"

The Doctor's blush had returned. In the last few hours I'd found out that I'd quite liked making the Time Lord blush. It looked… appealing on him.

He cleared his throat. "Um, attraction patch. Just, hold on until we get to the TARDIS. I might have something to quicken the process."

"Wait," Martha was thoroughly confused, and jealous, if I was right. "Attraction _what? _You paid for one of those _drugs?_"

I rolled my eyes. "Relax. It definitely wasn't on purpose."

"_Anyway," _The Doctor interrupted. "Come on, time we were off."

Martha seemed to visibly shake off her worry over the patch. "But what did he mean, the Face of Boe?" She paused, and we followed suit. "You're not alone."

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know."

I frowned, searching his face. It seemed improbable, that another Time Lord still lived. But maybe it was possible. The Doctor, however, didn't look like that even crossed his mind. How could he be so convinced that he was the only one? Maybe there was something I was missing from the war's story.

"You've got us," Martha offered, smiling. "Is that what he meant?"

The Doctor started smiling back, but he looked almost like he was just humoring her. "I don't think so. Sorry."

Martha's smile disappeared. "Then what?"

He shook his head, smiling ruefully. "Doesn't matter. Back to the TARDIS, off we go."

I watched as Martha took hold of a chair in the ground. She straightened it out, before plopping down in it, her arms and legs crossed.

He looked at her, surprised. "All right, are you staying?"

"Till you talk to me properly, yes. He said 'last of your kind'. What does that mean?" Then she turned to me. "And aren't you even a bit curious?"

I remained silent, shrugging.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, I see how it is. You already know."

The Doctor stepped in. "It doesn't really matter."

"You never talk." She argued. "You never say. At least, not to _me, _apparently. Why not?"

The speakers in the street sparked to life. The sound of a choir floated in through our ears.

"It's the city," Martha said. "They're singing."

The Doctor finally broke the silence that followed. "I lied to you," He stated. "Because I liked it. I could pretend with you. Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the _last _of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else."

I winced. So he _had _realized. Only had had deemed in impossible, and rejected it.

"What happened?" Martha asked softly.

The Doctor sighed, and picked up two other chairs before placing them facing each other. He signaled me to one of them, and I sat.

"There was a war." He explained, gently. "A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky.

"Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet." He said, and the quality in his voice changed as he remembered. Both Martha and I lost ourselves in that light in his eyes, the image he painted forming right in out minds. His eyes glistened, and his voice wavered if only for a second. "The second sun would rise in the south and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow though the branches like a song…"

I don't know how long we remained there, listening to the Doctor talk about his planet. Minutes, hours, they blended together. Nothing could have ripped us from the stories.

Well, almost nothing.

The shaking had worsened. I could barely keep myself from toppling from the chair. I couldn't bring myself to interrupt, however. So I remained quiet, reaching a point in which I couldn't even continue paying attention to his voice, as much as I liked it.

The attraction remained, of course. It was in the background, momentarily pushed down by the somber mood. There was nothing more I wanted than to take him in my arms and comfort him, though fortunately I was weak enough so that I wouldn't try to embarrass myself.

"Kylie?" Martha asked, finally noticed. "Doctor, Kylie's shaking."

The Doctor's face appeared in my line of vision. "Kylie? Kylie, come on, look at me."

"I _am _looking at you." I muttered.

He smiled. "Good. Keep doing that."

I tried grinning. "Oh, believe me. There's nothing else I'd rather do."

He rolled his eyes. Then my world wobbled as he picked me up, bridal style, and held me to his chest.

"Come, on," he said."To the TARDIS."


	13. The Reason Why Daleks Aren't Saltshakers

_Hi there:) New chapter!_

_Enjoy:)_

* * *

The Doctor deposited me in the med bay's bed and I sighed in disappointment.

"Two trips," He muttered as he searched through the med supplies, looking for something that would take the attraction patch's effects away. "It's only been two trips and this is your second – _second! _– time in the med bay. How can I ask you to keep travelling with me if this is going to happen every single time?"

I blinked. "What?"

He glanced at me quickly before returning to his search. "What?"

I felt like I was walking on thin ice. That I'd heard wrong. I didn't know if I wanted to ask. But then again, how could I _not?_ "Keep traveling with you?"

He shrugged, not looking at me. "Well, only if you want to. I mean, maybe you don't. You keep getting hurt, which may be bad." He paused, turning to look at me with wide eyes. "I mean, which _is _bad. So, yeah."

I was off the bed in a second, and then I launched myself at him, hugging him. "Of course I do."

He patted my back almost awkwardly. "Really? Oh, that's good."

I lifted my head and met his eyes, grinning. "I could kiss you for this, you know." I winked.

_Aaaand the blush is back. _"No, no, no," He pushed me by the shoulders, guiding me back to the bed, though not for the reason I wanted him to. "Sit here. Rest or something."

I held on to his arms before he could take his hands off my shoulders. "You could join me."

"Uh, no thank you?" he ducked away, dodging my hands as he headed back to the medical instruments. "Now," he muttered to himself. "Something to counteract the patch." He picked up a bottle of pills. "No, won't work on Osiriens. How about…" He straightened out with a grin, an injection in his hand. "Aha! Perfect."

He put the injection in a nearby table and gathered a piece of cotton swab and a bottle of alcohol. I relished in his closeness as he cleaned the spot on my neck, and I breathed in his scent.

"Doctor?" I said, almost dreamily.

"Yes?"

"You smell nice," I told him, before leaning my head on the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

He froze. "Uhh..."

"Like space dust, but a little bit of time traveling as well."

He swallowed, and I heard it right beside my ear. "That's… nice, I guess."

I nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Could you sit up, please? I just need to inject this and you'll be back to normal."

I shook my head. "No, I like this."

"That's the patch talking."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But _you_ most definitely doneed this."

There was a brief silence before he cleared his throat. "Why do you say that?"

I shrugged, again. "'Cause you do. You're too lonely."

"That's why I'm asking you and Martha to join me."

I shook my head. "That's different. You need someone there not just with you. You need someone irrevocably and completely _there _for you. Someone," I continued before he could interrupt me. "Someone you can actually talk to. Not to explain, or argue with, or joke to. _Talk _to. About yourself."

He stepped back. "Come on. I'm putting the injection on before the shaking returns."

I sighed, noticing he had completely brushed my words off. "I don't want it."

"Yes you do."

"A kiss first?" I tried, smiling winningly.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, if you insist."

My eyes widened in surprise. He took my chin with one hand; slowly tilting it up until the only things I could see was his eyes.

"Doctor," I sighed.

Then, something pinched my neck.

"Oh, that was dirty," I gasped as I slumped back, my eyes rolling back.

"Sorry," I heard him say.

And then, I lost consciousness.

* * *

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I was alone.

And then, the embarrassment flooded in.

_Ah, hell._

I couldn't believe he had asked me to come travelling with him. Even after seeing me with the patch. Even after me _throwing _myself at him with the patch.

I didn't even want to think about it. I pushed my thoughts aside before standing up.

The TARDIS appeared to be empty, though I couldn't be sure. The halls were strange. They were never the same. Some days one hall led to a room, others to a library, others to a bathroom.

Today, it lead directly to the console room. It was empty, but what really told me that I was completely alone in the spaceship was the empty perch near the door. His coat wasn't there. He never went out without his coat.

I didn't think twice. I rushed out the door, closing the TARDIS blue doors behind me.

It was dark. The TARDIS had landed a patch of green, short, grass. It was a park, or a small forest. Could have been either one. I didn't know for sure, but the place could very well belong to Earth.

I glanced behind me, giving the TARDIS a quick glance before my eyes shot upwards.

It was Earth. No doubt about it.

A skyline of buildings stood before me. And, towering over them all stood the Empire State Building. The original one, not one of the replicas. And it wasn't even finished. So, New York, Earth, though I had no idea of the year. I was never particularly good at those.

_I should wait. _That was probably the wisest idea. It was Earth, and I could easily get lost in it. There was no Timepiece ready to take me out of danger if it came to that, no time machine to ground me if I became lost. The Doctor could come back, and I wouldn't be on the time machine ready to leave.

But then again, I was never one to wait for others.

It didn't take long until I realized I was probably in Central Park. It took even less to realize I wasn't alone.

Twigs broke here and there. The leaves rustled loudly. Could have been the wind, the animals, but, then again, I heard the voices of men in front of me.

I walked quietly; pretty sure they weren't aware that I was there. They would have stopped me. At least, presumably.

Through the branches, I saw what could have been a small town. Shacks and tents surrounded big fires pits. Men of all shapes and sizes strode around or huddled around the fire.

I walked out of the tree line, making sure I walked undetected. In that moment, I could have bet anyone and anything that the Doctor had come through here.

Or even better, _was _here.

It was not difficult to distinguish the Time Lord. He was extremely tall, after all, especially compared to other humans. And he carried a _presence _with him. You could never miss him in a crowd of people.

I made my way over to him, hunching over my shoulders as I saw men send stares my way. I didn't see any other women around. I wasn't sure if it was simply because there were non here, or if they were all inside the tarps. Maybe it was my clothing that called their attention. Nevertheless, I hurried along.

The Doctor stood near a fire pit, talking to a dark skinned man with a rifle over his shoulder. Martha and a blonde woman huddled in close to the flames, arms crossed around them.

Martha was the first to see me.

"Kylie!" She called.

I sent her a weak smile as everyone's attention shifted to me.

The Doctor strode over to me, and I couldn't help but blush. Oh, the things I'd _said _to him! How embarrassing.

"Kylie!" He greeted, grinning before frowning. "You shouldn't be up yet."

I frowned back. "You shouldn't have left me!"

He waved it off. "Martha and I were bored. Anyway, you just had to sleep it off." He turned, putting his right arm over his shoulders as he steered me over to the group of people around the fire pit. "Kylie, this is Solomon, this lad here goes by Frank, and this lovely lady here is Tallulah!"

"Hey?" I tried.

Nobody said anything back, though Frank at least nodded and tipped his hat in my direction. I smiled back.

"Umm, so what's happening?" I asked.

"Daleks, or the like, apparently." Solomon said, scowling.

I felt like someone had tipped a bucket of ice-cold water over me.

"_What?"_

The Doctor glanced at me. "You know them?"

"Of course I do," I said, glaring and baring my teeth. "They owe me one."

"One what?" Martha asked from her place by the fire.

"One life."

Almost like it had been rehearsed, a yell broke the air. "They're coming! They're coming!"

"A sentry," Solomon muttered. "He must have seen something."

"They're here!" Continued the yell. "I've seen them! Monsters! They're monsters!"

Everyone at the camp burst into motion. Everyone except our little group, who only stared back in grim determination.

"It's started," was the Doctor's reply.

Solomon, who seemed to be the leader of the small town, started relaying orders. "We're under attack! Everyone to arms!"

Frank already seemed to have his rifle out, cocked and ready for trouble.

"I'm ready, boss," he said. "But all of you, find a weapon! Use anything!"

However, some of the other town members didn't seem to be as brave. They turned on their heels, running away from danger.

"Come back!" Solomon yelled. "We've got to stick together! It's not safe out there! Come back!"

Men with pig heads entered camp, causing havoc and running around, snatching people. I watched, astonished. The image before my eyes didn't fit in Earth's surface. These… _creatures _definitely did not belong here.

"We need to get out of the park!" Called Martha.

"We can't," The Doctor said. "They're on all sides. They're driving everyone back towards us."

"We're trapped." The blonde – Tallulah – said, stating what I had thought was obvious.

"Then we stand together," Solomon decided. "Gather round. Everybody come to me. You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together. They can't take all of us."

And then, the shooting started.

That was one of the reasons why I never fully liked humans. They were easy to anger, and they immediately turned to guns. Lethal machines that made killing easy. Humans weren't the only one that used them, of course, but were one of the races that did so the most often.

It was a bit hypocrite for me to say. Osiriens were one of those races that relied heavily on guns. I myself couldn't truthfully say I hadn't handled one myself. Though since leaving my home planet I had made a point of not touching one of them.

Pig-men fell all around, clutching their wounds as they fell. The humans worked efficiently, though the Doctor looked far from pleased.

"If we can just hold them off till daylight," Martha muttered.

The Doctor merely shook his head. "Oh, Martha, they're just the foot soldiers."

Movement at the corner of my eye made me look up.

It was a silver Dalek, flying through the air, its eye looking left and right as it appraised us. I glared at it. Once, when I was a child, I had seen a picture of them and laughed. How could anyone be afraid of such ridiculous creatures? They had looked very much like the saltshakers my mom had been so fond of.

Then, I heard the stories. And _then, _I met one in real life.

Finally, I had realized why they belonged to the nightmares, and _definitely_ not beside the pepper on the table.

"Oh, my God." Martha gasped, looking at it.

"What in this world is _that?_" Solomon exclaimed.

"It's the devil!" One of the humans said. "A devil in the sky. God save us all. It's damnation."

"Yeah, we'll see about that!" Frank grunted, aiming at the flying Dalek and shooting. The Doctor tried stopping him, but the shot had already fired, bouncing off harmlessly off the Dalek.

"That's not going to work," the Doctor told him.

"There's another one," I warned, spotting the second Dalek approaching.

Then, they started firing.

By the first shot, it was obvious who would be the winners of this would-be war. Their shots were lethal, tents and supplies flying through the air and disintegrating. People called and yelled, stumbling as they tried avoiding the hits.

Some weren't that lucky.

I tried covering my head, trying to see through the smoke and chaos that had formed. Only one thing stood still in all the chaos. One pissed off Time Lord.

"Ugh, damn Daleks," I muttered, running as I tried reaching the Doctor.

I don't think he notice my arrival. Martha crouched near him, trying to protect her head from the flying splinters and objects that flew through the air.

"The humans will surrender!" One of the Daleks ordered.

"Leave them alone," The Doctor yelled. "They've done nothing to you!"

Through the smoke, I saw Solomon stepping forward, the gun pointed down and relaxed.

"No, Solomon," the Doctor tried, pushing him back. "Stay back."

"I'm told that I'm addressing the Daleks," Solomon announced. "Is that right? From what I hear, you're outcasts too."

"Solomon, don't!" The Doctor said.

Solomon walked forward. "Doctor, this is my township. You will respect my authority. Just let me try. Daleks, ain't we all the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin?"

He put the rifle down, and I could just _sense _that a speech was brewing. Idiotic humans.

"Right. See, I've just discovered this past day, God's universe is a thousand times the sixe I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh yeah, terrifies me right down to the bone. But surely it's got to give me hope. Hope that maybe together we can make a better tomorrow. So, I beg you now, if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fight. Well? What do you say?"

The following pause didn't last long.

"Exterminate," came the robotic voice.

A Dalek fired, and Solomon died screaming in a burst of green energy.

"No!" Frank screamed, reaching the fallen man. "Solomon!"

"They killed him. They just shot him on the spot." Martha gasped in disbelief.

The Doctor and I exchanged a look, and I couldn't say I was surprised. The Doctor didn't look shocked either, though there was pity for the brave old fallen man.

"Daleks," I said, shaking my head.

"All right, so it's my turn!" The Doctor growled, stepping forward and spreading his arms wide. "Then kill me! Kill me if it's stop you attacking these people!"

The Daleks seemed to jump at the opportunity that had presented itself. "I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy," one said.

"Then do it!" The Doctor continued. "Do it! Just do it! Do it!"

"Exterminate."

"Don't you dare!" I said, pulling the Doctor's arm until I stood beside him.

"Kylie," The Doctor warned, as we stared at the unmoving Dalek. "Step back."

I shook my head. "No way I'm giving them their biggest enemy on a silver platter, Doctor. I will make those Dalek's life impossible to my very last breath."

"I do not understand," continued the robotic voice and, for a second, I thought it was talking to me. However, it continued, and I realized it was speaking to someone else. "It is the Doctor."

A pause, like it was listening.

"The urge to kill is too strong." It said.

Another pause.

"I obey."

"What's going on?" The Doctor asked.

"You will follow." The Dalek ordered.

"No!" Martha called from somewhere behind as she rushed to our side. "You can't go."

"I've got to go," the Time Lord muttered. "The Daleks just changed their minds. Daleks never change their minds."

"But what about us?"

We stared at the silent humans, seeing their eyes glisten in fear and as the occasional tear escaped.

"One condition!" The Doctor decided, turning back to the Daleks. "If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?"

"Humans will be spared. Doctor, follow."

"Then we're coming with you!" Martha exclaimed. I stared at her in surprise. I thought that that had been already decided.

The Doctor, however, wasn't agreeing.

"Martha, stay here. Do what you do best. People are hurt. You can help them. Let me go." He turned to me, equally as serious. "Say with her. Help her."

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms. "As if. I'm not letting those damn Daleks out of my sight, Doctor. Keeping an eye on you is just a bonus." I paused, frowning. "And no, that's not supposed to be flirty in any way. Just so you know."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Alrighty, then. And Martha, can I just say, thank you very much."

He took his hand in his, and shook it. And only because I found it strange did I see him pass his pad of psychic paper over to Martha between their hands. He quickly winked at her, before pulling me over. We walked under the Daleks to what could have been our doom.

I should have been worried. Should have been afraid, panicking, shaking.

I wasn't, however.

Because, even if I was waking under the watchful eyes of one of the most feared creatures of the universe, I was also walking beside the Doctor. A Time Lord with a plan.

It was amazing, what he did. Not for one second did I think I was walking to my death. No, as I walked beside him, I knew everything would be all right.

And _that's _what should have scared me. Because I knew one day one of two things would happen.

He would disappoint me, and someone would die.

Or even worse.

_I _would disappoint him in a way so unforgivable, that he would leave me behind, leaving me to fend for myself.

I didn't know which scared me most.

So I pushed the thoughts away, and instead, followed one of the most lethal creatures on Earth in a comfortable silence.


	14. Pigman Slave, Apparently

_I love reviews, guys. Every time I read one I suddenly get the urge to write faster (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) ;)_

_Enjoy!:)_

* * *

"You said they owe you a life." The Doctor said, keeping his voice down as we walked through the city.

The Daleks flew above us, keeping their eyes vigilant as they escorted us.

"They do." I growled.

"Who was it?"

I hesitated only for a second. "My best friend. Kyra. Her family had invited me to a trip years before… before I first traveled with the Timepiece. We went to the forests of Azmoville. We'd been there barely a day when they came out of nowhere. Killed everyone in sight. Only her big brother and I survived."

I had told the story many times. It came out almost robotic as I retold it to the Doctor.

"I'm sorry." He said.

I shrugged it off. "It was a long time ago."

There was a long pause.

"You know," he finally said. "That's the first time you've ever talked about your past. Your… personal past. I don't think I know anything else about you."

I felt myself tense, but tried to conceal it from him. "Do you trust me, Doctor?" I asked.

He sent me a sideway glance. "I'm beginning to."

I nodded. "Good. So you'll understand that I'd prefer not to talk about me right now. Not with they listening," I signaled the Daleks. "And not until _I _completely trust you. It's true that I haven't talked much about me, but you? I don't know much about you either. Your species, about the war, nothing else apart from what I can observe."

He nodded, slowly. "I see. We'll give it time, then."

I relaxed, relieved. "I'd like that."

We didn't speak again until we reached the Empire State Building. And then, he only spoke to warn me.

"We have to be careful, alright? Let me do the talking." His dark eyes bored into mine. "I know you're angry. I know you want revenge. But first and foremost, you keep a clear head, always think before you do something you might later regret."

I nodded, choosing to keep silent.

We entered the Dalek laboratory, escorted by the two Daleks.

The Doctor took a deep breath before exploding. "Those people were defenseless! You only wanted me, but no, that wasn't enough for you. You had to start killing, because that's the only thing a Dalek's good for."

Dalek Sec, the human/Dalek hybrid stood, flanked by other Daleks. He stood there, calmly taking in the Doctor's accusations.

"The deaths were wrong," he said.

I stared at him, dumb with surprise. Deaths? _Wrong _deaths?

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked.

"That man, their leader, Solomon. He showed courage."

The Doctor still sounded like he couldn't quite believe it. Me neither. "And that's good?"

"That's excellent," Dalek Sec said.

"Is it me, or are you just becoming a little bit more… human?"

"You are the last of your kind, and now, I am the first of mine."

The Doctor's anger seemed to evaporate. "What do you want me for?"

"We tried everything to survive when we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age. First we tried growing new Dalek embryos, but their flesh was too weak."

"Yeah, we found one of your experiments." His tone turned menacing. "Just left to die out there in the dark."

"It forced us to conclude what is the greatest resource of this planet. Its people."

Sec threw down a switch, immediately lighting up the room. Bulks appeared, hanging from the celling. Another switch was flicked, and one of the… _stretchers _was brought down, revealing a very human-like shape.

"We stole them. We stole human beings for our purpose. Look inside."

The Doctor obeyed, uncovering a man's face, pale and drawn.

"This is the true extent of the Final Experiment," Dalek Sec continued.

The Doctor's face was unreadable. "Is he dead?"

"Near death, with his mind wiped, ready to be filled with new ideas."

"Dalek ideas."

"The Human Dalek race."

The Doctor looked up, observing all the stretchers hanging above. "All of these people. How many?"

"We have caverns beyond this storing more than a thousand."

I could see the wheels turning inside the Time Lord's head. "Is there any way to restore them? Make them human again?"

"Everything they were has been lost."

"So they're like shells. You've got empty human beings ready to be converted. That's going to take a hell of a lot of power. This planet hasn't even split the atom yet. How're you going to do it?"

"Open the conductor plan," Dalek Sec ordered.

An image flickered to life in a large screen, showing a model of the Empire State building.

The Doctor waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Empire State Building. We're right underneath that. I worked that out already, thanks. But what, you've hijacked the whole building?"

"We needed an energy conductor."

"What for?"

"I am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and human genetic codes, and waken each body from its sleep."

"Gamma radiation? What are you-" The screen zoomed out until the world and the sun appeared. "Oh, the sun. You're using the sun."

"Soon the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor and when it strikes…"

"The army wakes." The Doctor completed. "I still don't know what you need me for."

"Your genius. Consider a pure Dalek, intelligent but emotionless."

"Removing the emotions makes you stronger. That's what your creator thought, all those years ago."

"He was wrong."

More than anything else Dalek had said, these were the words that brought me the most suspicion. The Dalek creator was wrong? No Dalek would have ever admitted that. They worshipped the creator's words, made it their whole reason for living.

And now, a Dalek was saying it was _wrong?_

Something was not right here.

"He was _what_?" The Doctor repeated.

"It makes us lesser than our enemies. We must return to the flesh, and also the heart."

Behind the Doctor and Dalek Sec, I saw two other Daleks conferring quietly between themselves. I frowned, knowing they couldn't be planning anything good. I moved to a side, where I could keep them all in my line of vision.

"But you wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore." The Doctor tried.

"And that is good."

"That is incorrect," One of the Daleks suddenly piped up.

"Daleks are supreme." Another one said.

Dalek Sec shook his head. "No, not anymore."

"But that is our purpose."

"Then our purpose is wrong. Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers on a primitive world, just four of us left. If we do not change now then we deserve extinction."

The Doctor still seemed bewildered, and for good reason. "So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek."

"If you can help me. Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours. The new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts."

"But you're the template. I thought they were getting a dose of you."

"I want to change the gene sequence."

"To make them even more human?"

Dalek Sec kept surprising us even more each second.

"Humans are the great survivors. We need that ability." He responded.

The Doctor shook his head, and signaled the other Daleks. "Hold on a minute. There's no way this lot are going to let you do it."

"I am their leader." Dalek Sec stated.

The Doctor turned towards the Daleks. "Oh, and that's enough for you, is it?"

"Daleks must follow orders," One of the robotic voices said.

"Dalek Sec commands, we obey." Confirmed the other.

Dalek Sec's eye bored into the Doctor's. "If you don't help me, nothing will change."

"There's no room on Earth for another race of people." The Doctor pointed out.

"You have your TARDIS. Take us across the stars. Find us a new home and allow the new Daleks to start again."

"When's that solar flare?"

I stared at the Doctor, even more bewildered. He was actually going to _help _them? The race that destroyed his home?

"Eleven minutes."

The Doctor nodded, having made his decision. He avoided my eyes. "Right then. Better get to work."

I watched as the Doctor rushed around, splitting his time with the computer and with the chemicals. He carried vials of different colors and substances, squinting and frowning every time he tried something.

"There's no point in chromosomal grafting." He said. "It's too erratic. You need to split the genome and force the Dalek human sequence right into the cortex."

"We need more chromatin solution," Dalek Sec told one of the other Daleks.

"The pig slaves have it."

A group of pigmen marched in, carrying a large create. My eyes immediately caught on the different creature, more humanlike than the others.

"These pig slaves," the Doctor asked. "What happens to them in the grand plan?"

Dalek Sec shrugged it away. "Nothing. They're just simple beasts. Their lifespan is limited. None survive beyond a few weeks."

I watched the more humanlike pigman glance up from his work and over to us, and in his face, I saw much more than a simple beast. His eyes were as human as they came.

"Power up the line feeds!" Dalek Sec ordered.

The Doctor quickly made his way towards the humanlike pigman, and I followed.

"Laszlo," The Doctor whispered to him. "I can't undo what they've done to you, but they won't do it to anyone else."

"Do you trust him?" Laszlo whispered back, motioning Dalek Sec with his head.

"That's a very good question," I finally spoke up, though keeping my voice low. "You seem awfully eager to help them, Doctor."

The Doctor deliberated. "I know that one man can change the course of history. Right idea in the right place at the right time, it's all it takes. I've got to believe it's possible."

He met my eyes quickly before returning to work.

"Who are you?" Laszlo asked me then.

"Friend of the Doctor's." I said. "You?"

"Pigman slave, apparently." He said. I glanced at him, my eyebrows raised. "Have you by any chance seen Tallulah?"

"I have."

"Is she alright?"

I watched his face. How he tried to remain emotionless as he tried to look like he was working. Tallulah meant something to him, no doubt. Girlfriend? That at least explained why Tallulah was in all this.

"Last I saw her, yeah, she was alright."

He sighed in relief. "Good."

I watched the Daleks conferring, yet again, between themselves. Something was not right.

"I don't trust them. Any of them. Not for a minute." I muttered.

Laszlo snorted. "Neither do I. It's foolish."

I didn't know what that made the Doctor. He wasn't foolish, not by a long shot. Maybe a bit naïve, at times. Maybe too hopeful. Maybe he didn't see another way. I still didn't know the Doctor well enough to know what ran through his head.

Something told me I never would be.

"The line feeds are ready." A Dalek announced.

The Doctor kept rushing around. "Then it's all systems go."

"The solar flare is imminent." Dalek Sec said. "The radiation will reach Earth in a matter of minutes."

The Doctor filled a large syringe with a blue liquid before putting it into a brass still. "We'll be ready for it. That compound will allow the gene bonds to reconfigure in a brand new pattern. Power up!"

A pigman and Laszlo threw down two switches.

"Start the line feeds." Dalek Sec ordered.

The blue liquid started moving through plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling and connected to the stretchers hung above.

"There goes the gene solution," The Doctor said, accomplished.

"The life blood." Dalek Sec agreed.

A new sound distracted us.

"What's that?" The Doctor asked.

"What's happening?" Dalek Sec asked the Daleks. "Is there a malfunction? Answer me!"

The Daleks ignored him.

"No, no, no. The gene feed!" The Doctor said, leaning over the computer and the controls. "They're overriding the gene feed!"

"Impossible. They cannot disobey orders."

A Dalek faced the Doctor. "The Doctor will step away from the controls."

The Doctor obliged, warily.

I frowned, coming to stand with him. I _knew _the Daleks had been to no good. I knew it! And yet, knowing it but not having done anything about it defeated its purpose, so I remained quiet.

"Stop!" Dalek Sec kept trying. "You will not fire."

"He is an enemy of the Daleks," A Dalek rasped.

"And so," Another said, turning towards Dalek Sec, "Are you."

The guns were pointed at Dalek Sec now.

"You have lost your authority."

"You are no longer Dalek."

"What have you done with the gene feed?" The Doctor asked.

"The new bodies will be one hundred percent Dalek," they crowed.

"No, you can't do this!" Dalek Sec implored.

"Pig slaves, restrain the prisoners."

The pig slaves descended upon us, Laszlo acting as one of them and grabbing the Doctor. I flinched back from their grubby hands, feeling their breaths and pants stir the back of my hair.

"Release me." Dalek Sec told them. "I created you. I am your master."

Another alarm sounded, the lights flashing red. The lift _pinged! _behind us as it arrived.

"Solar flare is approaching." The Dalek announced.

"Prepare to intercept." Another one said.

"There's the lift." Laszlo whispered to us.

"After you. " The Doctor whispered back, throwing me a meaningful look.

The Doctor broke free from the other pigmen with the help of Laszlo, immediately running towards the lift.

I fought my own captors, ducking and kicking as I tried following the Doctor. They were strong, but also dumb and slow.

However, it still seemed I wasn't good enough to best them.

More hands descended over me, grasping my clothes and my hair. I struggled, but it was no use.

"Kylie!" I heard the Doctor yell.

He was about to come after me. I just knew it. He was that type of men. Hero 'till to the very end.

"Go, Doctor!" I yelled, trying to keep the pigmens' attention on me.

The group of pigmen moved, and between them, for a brief second, I could see the Doctor, standing on the lift's doors, staring right at me.

"Goddamit, leave!" I roared.

"The Doctor's escaping!" A Dalek screamed. "Stop him! Stop him!"

Laszlo took the Doctor by the back of his coat, pulling him inside just before the doors closed.

Silence descended as the pigmen finally took me by the arms, dragging me towards the Daleks. They pushed me to my knees before doing the same to Dalek Sec. We kneeled, glaring up at the Daleks.

"Exterminate the Doctor's companion?" One asked.

"No. We will use her. The Doctor never leaves his companions behind."

"He will defeat you," I growled. "Just you see."

They ignored me.

"You have betrayed me." Dalek Sec said.

"You told us to imagine."

"And we imagined your irrelevance."

It was almost creepy, watching them finish each other's sentences.

Dalek Sec fought until he was on his feet. "I was your leader. I am Dalek Sec. Obey me!"

The pigmen descended on him, once again forcing him to his knees.

I watched the Daleks tower over us, imagining the glee they must feel that everything was working according to plan. The only thing missing was the thundering, echoing evil laugh.

They weren't even capable of that.


	15. Bad Little Doggie

I tried to escape.

I was almost successful, too.

I stood up, shook the pigmen off, ducked and dodged until I reached the lift. It was all very impressive, if you ask me.

The doors took too long to open.

So now Dalek Sec and I were chained to the wall. The manacles hung from above, a thick collar rounded my neck and cuffs around my wrists. I could only watch as the Daleks completed their plan of, well, evil.

"Confirm time until solar intercept." Dalek one said.

"Gamma strike four minutes and counting." Number two responded.

"Pig slaves," Dalek One called. "Will take the lift. Find the Doctor. Kill him."

I winced, watching helpless as the pigmen scrambled to the lift and took off. The Doctor would have to survive this on his own. I would have to have faith on him. There was no way that the Doctor's downfall would be today, of all days.

"It won't work," I called out to them, tauntingly.

Dalek one turned towards me. "Explain yourself, human."

I shook my head. "You have everything wrong. You're underestimating the Doctor. You don't know how headstrong he is. Your plan isn't bulletproof." I laughed drily. "You even got my species wrong."

Something buzzed in my direction, and I gathered that were scanning me to determine my species.

"Your species is unconfirmed." The Dalek said. "Identify yourself."

"You don't even have records about my species," I smirked. "I am Osirien."

"You are inferior. We only keep you until the Doctor is dead."

"That won't happen," I goaded.

They ignored me, preferring to go back to work. "Gamma strike imminent." They said. "In forty rels. Thirty nine, thirty eight, thirty seven."

I tried ignoring their robotic voices. Tried to tune out the countdown.

"Twelve, eleven, ten."

I wondered what the Doctor was doing. Did he find a way to fix this? Was he with Martha? Was Laszlo reunited with Tallulah?

"Three, two, one."

Ah, hell.

"Zero. Gamma strike!"

The building shook. The lights flickered.

"The army awakens," was the Dalek's ominous words.

The stretchers all lowered, and, one by one, people started sitting up, pushing their shrouds aside. They lined up; facing the Daleks, back straights and impassive faces – soldiers awaiting their orders.

One Dalek approached one of the new humans. "You will identify."

"I am Dalek," The man said.

"Excellent."

The second Dalek rolled towards a screen. "Begin the invasion of Manhattan. The population will be converted to Daleks.

"And from this island we will conquer the world."

"Assume battle positions. Take arms."

The humans turned to the left in a straight line, marching like soldiers to a rack where the systematically each collected a Dalek weapon, lasers like the creatures' very own.

I watched, helpless, as they marched out of the building and into the Manhattan streets.

"War demands strategy. I am designated controller." A Dalek said, and it sounded almost smug.

"That was to be _my _position," Dalek Sec cried, still fighting the chains.

"You are unfit. Connect me to the military computer. I will coordinate all units."

"Report status." The second Dalek demanded.

"Maximum efficiency. I am now ready for full scale war."

"Control over Dalek humans?"

"Connection confirmed. All soldiers will take heed. All weapons will be primed."

An alarm suddenly flashed in the room, and the Daleks suddenly seemed upset. I considered this a good thing.

"Sonic device detected!" One said.

"The Doctor survived?" The Dalek almost came close to sound dazed.

A grin split through my face. "Ha!"

The Daleks didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. "Find him and exterminate!"

"Doctor located. Advance. Advance."

Two Dalek Humans approached me, and I found it incredibly bizarre how… _emotionless _their faces appeared. They unchained me from the wall and took the manacles from my wrists away until only the collar remained. They took me by the chain, and forcibly dragged me though passageways and sewers behind the Daleks. I didn't try to resist. After all, they were taking me straight to the Doctor.

We reached a theater, and our small group stopped backstage.

"You will kneel." A Dalek ordered.

Dalek Sec complied immediately. One of the Dalek Humans stepped behind him, kicking him in the back until he was on all fours. I ignored the request, instead choosing to glare at them.

"No way in hell."

"You are inferior," Said the robotic voice. "You will kneel."

"I am no dog," I said haughtily. "I will not _crawl _after you."

It came so suddenly I had to chance to move.

"Exterminate."

The blast hit me full on the chest, and, for a few seconds, I was flying.

The intense burning in my chest hit me even before I hit the ground. I choked on a scream, clutching my chest as I tried to breath. I coughed into my hand, only to find blood in it. I had bitten my tongue as I'd landed.

"Kylie!"

I'm not sure whom it was that shouted. I struggled to my knees, and realized I was center stage, and the Doctor and his, well, groupies stood watching me, horrified. They were surrounded, by both sides, by the legion of Dalek Humans.

Martha tried rushing towards me, but the Doctor stopped her with a hand. I realized why just as the Daleks and a Dalek Human entered the stage, Dalek Sec following like a well-trained dog.

The Dalek Human took the end of the chain sprouting from my collar. I did not have the strength to stand just yet, so I remained on my knees. I made sure to glare at them, though, just so they knew I was not happy with the situation.

"You are strong, yet inferior." The Dalek told me. "We will deal with you, later."

Then they turned to the group standing in the audience's chairs.

"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks."

The Doctor quickly strode over the top of the seats and I watched, amazed at how someone so tall could be so graceful at times.

It wasn't until he was closer that I could see what it was in his eyes. There was a storm brewing in there. His face was expressionless, but his eyes? They showed everything and so much more. His relaxed stance carefully hid what lay within.

He was looking straight at me.

I could only hope he was angry for me. Not _at _me.

His eyes shifted towards the Daleks. I did not understand why the Daleks didn't run, screaming.

Instead, they both spoke, and they seemed as arrogant as Daleks could be.

"You will die, Doctor. It is the beginning of a new age."

"Planet Earth will become New Skaro."

"Oh, and what a world." The Doctor said, and all those emotions I saw in his eyes were carefully concealed in his voice. "With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt." He motioned towards Dalek Sec, still on the ground, like a dog. "That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and look what you've done to him." His face resembled disgust. "Is that your new Empire, hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"

"My Daleks, just understand this." Dalek Sec tried. "If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you."

"Incorrect. We will always survive. Now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Doctor."

"But he can help you!" Dalek Sec implored.

"The Doctor must die."

"I beg you, don't."

"Exterminate!"

It didn't even give me time to register. He was pointing at the Doctor.

I watched, in slow motion, how Dalek Sec stood up from his hands and knees, right between the Dalek and the Doctor. It was quick, there was barely a sound, and Dalek Sec was dead. He crumpled to the floor, his life extinguished so easily.

"Your own leader." The Doctor said after a moment, disgusted. "The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him." He turned to the masses of Dalek Humans, standing stock still with their weapons ready. "Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is? If I'm going to die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek humans. Their first blood. Go on baptize them."

The Dalek seemed to like the idea. "Dalek humans, take aim."

In unison, they did.

"What are you waiting for?" The Doctor yelled, almost desperate. "Give the command!"

I watched, horrified, from my place in the floor. I could barely move, much less go up to the Doctor to slap some sense into him.

"Exterminate!"

The Doctor tensed, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Exterminate! Obey. Dalek humans will obey."

"They're not firing." Martha's amazed voice reached me. "What have you done?"

"You will obey. Exterminate."

"Why?" One of the Dalek humans spoke.

I saw the Doctor glance at him, and he looked almost pleased.

"Daleks do not question orders." The Dalek told him.

"But why?"

"You will stop this."

"But why?"

"You must not question."

"But you are not our master," The human Dalek said. "And we, we are not Daleks."

"No, you're not." The Doctor said in quiet amazement. "And you never will. Sorry, I got in the way of the lighting strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed my. Just that little bit of freedom."

I swayed in my place, tired beyond control. My eyes drooped, but I couldn't let myself sleep. We were winning. I knew it. I couldn't miss it.

"If they will not obey," The Dalek reasoned. "Then they must die."

It was quick. The shot was fired, and the Dalek human that had spoken was dead.

"Get down!" The Doctor shouted.

I didn't find that order that difficult to follow. I had already been swaying on my knees, and I merely had to use a bit of strength in order to topple forwards. I laid on the cold wooden floor, hearing the shots and the brief, strangled screams. I was fighting sleep. My chest had stopped burning. It was numb now.

_Maybe I'll just close my eyes. Just for a little bit._

* * *

When I opened my eyes, Martha's face materialized into view.

"Kylie! Thank God you're all right." Then her arms slid around me in a bone-crushing hug.

I hugged her back briefly before sitting up, trying to make my stomach settle as I looked around. We were in the Dalek lab.

I blinked, disoriented. "What happened?"

"All the Daleks are dead, except one. It escaped right after-" She hesitated. "Right after it killed all the Dalek humans. The Doctor's trying to fix Laszlo now."

"He all right?" I asked, just noticing my words slurred a bit.

"I think he will be."

I tried standing up, but she immediately pushed me back down.

"Nope, lie back down. Doctor's orders."

I waved her off. "I'm fine."

Her face turned serious all of the sudden. "You were hit by a Dalek. A _Dalek. _We don't even know how you survived."

I closed my eyes, pressing a hand over my face. "I do."

"Ah, you do?" The Doctor's voice intruded.

I peeked from within my hand and through the cracks between my fingers. "How's Laszlo?"

He was cleaning his hands in a white rag, a pair of glasses perched upon his nose. "All fixed up. Now you, I still need to check."

"No need. Probably just bruised."

"But _how?" _Martha asked. "Everybody died with just one hit."

I leaned back on my elbows, watching their questioning gazes.

"It's the Timepiece," I sighed, wearily. "It protects its wearer."

"So what?" Martha continued. "It keeps you from dying?"

I shook my head. "It only makes me stronger. Healthier. Less… killable. I can still be killed, of course, though it would take more than the usual."

The Doctor shook his head, and I know he wanted to keep asking. To know more. But I also knew he was honoring our agreement. We both could keep our secrets, at least, until we knew we could trust each other.

"Come on. We should go." The Doctor told us.

They helped me up. And with slight difficulties, we made our way to Central Park.

* * *

"Well, I talked to them," Frank was saying. "And I told them what Solomon would've said, and I reckon I shamed one or two of them."

"What did they say?" The Doctor asked him.

"They said yes." He turned towards Laszlo, who was on his feet now and looking healthier by the minute. "They'll give you a home, Laszlo, I mean, er, don't imagine people ain't going to stare. I can't promise you'll be at peace but, in the end, that is what Hooverville is for. People who ain't got nowhere else.

"Thank you." Laszlo said, a huge smile upon his face as he hugged Tallulah with one arm. "I can't thank you enough."

We said our goodbyes, and we headed towards the TARDIS.

"Do you reckon it's going to work, those two?" Martha asked us. She walked between the Doctor and I, and she kept looking at me like she thought I would fall or faint any second.

I brushed her attempts to help me away. I was tired, my chest hurt, and my eyelids drooped, but I knew I would make it to the TARDIS without any help.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know. Anywhere else in the universe, I might worry about them, but New York? That's what this city's good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and maybe the odd pig slave Dalek mutant hybrid too."

"The pig and the showgirl," Martha shook her head in wonder.

"The pig and the showgirl." The Doctor repeated.

"It just proves it, I suppose. There's someone for everyone."

The Doctor had a faraway look in his eyes. "Maybe."

"Kylie?" Martha asked, and I noticed I had fallen a bit behind. I snapped my head up to look at her as she regarded me, worried. "You all right?"

I shrugged. "I suppose."

"I never thought to ask but, you've got somebody back home?"

It felt like a knife had made its way to my heart. She was asking if I had a guy back home. I took the question much more generally.

"No," I said softly. "I haven't got anyone."

From the corner of my eye, I saw the Doctor's head angle towards me, and his searching eyes scrutinizing me. I think he saw more than I wanted him to.

I turned my head to the path, trying to avoid him.

"I'm sorry." He finally said. "For leaving you."

I glanced at him, surprised. "What?"

"I should have stayed. They had you chained. They… _shot_ you."

I smiled softly at him. "No, Doctor. Things would have turned out so much different if you had stayed. And not for the better. It was good that you left."

He shook his head, and his expression was steel. "Well, that will not be happening again. We help each other, always."

I didn't say anything, but a warm feeling wormed itself inside me.

We were almost to the TARDIS when Martha spoke again.

"Meant to say, I'm sorry."

"What for?" The Doctor asked.

"Just because that Dalek got away. I know what that means to you. Think you'll ever see it again?"

I saw it in his eyes, how his mind was suddenly far away, in another corner of the universe.

"Oh, yes. One day."


	16. Wherein The Hairstyle Gets A Name

_So, some people have asked me about Kylie's strength and how she survived the Dalek's shot. I think this might help clear some things up:_

_Osiriens are stronger than humans. Owe it to evolution or the siren's added mix to their DNA or whatever. But that isn't what makes Kylie less 'killable'. It's all in the Timepiece. The Timepiece protects its wearers, it depends on their survival – if the owner dies, so does the Timepiece. Once it's strapped on to someone, nothing will be able to tear them apart. So it makes its owner stronger, healthier, and more difficult to kill. Not unstoppable, mind you, it just makes it harder. The Timepiece is a piece of technology the Doctor hasn't encountered yet, and, as of yet, he still hasn't realized how powerful it is. He's becoming more suspicious, but until recently he only thinks of it as somewhat of a Vortex Manipulator replica._

_I'm using all of this as a prelude as to what's to come. The Timepiece plays a HUGE role in Kylie's past and her future, bigger than even the Doctor can imagine right now._

_I hope this cleared some things up! Feel free to PM me if you still have some questions. I'll be happy to help:) I want you to enjoy this story with me as much as possible._

___So, yeah. Thanks for all the new followers and favorites! And especially the reviewers. You make my day:)_

* * *

"There we go!" The Doctor said as we settled down. "Perfect landing. Which isn't easy in such a tight spot."

"You should be used to tight spots by now," Martha grinned. "Where are we?"

"The end of the line," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. His usual enthusiasm was gone. I had a bad feeling about this.

He didn't seem to notice my look. "No place like it," He continued.

Martha rushed out of the TARDIS.

_No place like it._

It couldn't be. He _told _me he wanted us to travel with him. I had to be wrong.

The Doctor met my eyes unflinchingly.

"Home?" I heard Martha say incredulously from outside. "You took me home?"

I regarded him and I knew he could see the hurt in my eyes. He looked away.

"I thought you said we could travel with you." I hissed at him.

He shrugged, using his hand to scratch the back of his head. "Changed my mind. It happens."

"You can't just _change_ your mind."

"'Course I can."

I glared at him.

His face lost some of the aloofness as he looked at me. "Kylie, I've taken you to three different places. How many times have you injured yourself? _Three._"

"That- you- It's- _Ugh_!" I ran my hands through my hair and pulled it. "That's _my _problem, Doctor. I get into these situations. With or without you. We met in a damn hospital for God's sake."

"Yeah, well, I feel responsible for you."

I bared my teeth in annoyance. "What, then? You'll just leave us here? You think Martha will just get on with her life? Just forget everything she's seen? And me? You'll just leave me to wander Earth without _this._" I said, motioning to my Timepiece. "That's the worst fate you can ever put me through, Doctor."

"Of course not!" The Doctor exclaimed. "I won't just leave you to wander Earth. I'll take you to Orisis."

White, hot panic rushed through me. I shuddered, my mind whirling with thoughts so fast I felt faint all of the sudden.

I would _not _go back.

"_No."_ I said, a bit more forceful than I had intended. I took a big breath, trying to calm myself when I saw him shoot me a concerned look. "No, if you're to leave us, I'd prefer to explore Earth."

He looked suspicious, but didn't say anything.

"Doctor? Kylie?" Martha called.

We walked out the TARDIS, and I think the both of us were trying to avoid each other's eyes.

"It's the morning after we left," he said, eyes full of curiosity as he looked around Martha's room. I leaned back against the TARDIS, glaring at him. "You've only been gone about twelve hours. No time at all, really."

"But all the stuff we've done," she insisted, sounding rejected. "Shakespeare, New New York, old New York?"

The Time Lord nodded, before finally turning around and meeting her eyes. "Yep, all in one night – relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs," He picked up a pair of pink panties with one finger. "Laundry."

Martha snatched the lingerie from his fingertips, and in any other time, I would have laughed.

"So, back where you were, as promised." He smiled.

"This is it?" Martha asked, bewildered. She looked at me, seeking help. "This is _it_?"

I shrugged noncommittally, and continued glaring at the Doctor. He seemed to be unaffected, but I saw how he flinched ever so slightly every time he met my eyes.

The Doctor inhaled deeply. "Yeah, I should probably… um…"

He was interrupted by the phone's ring. The answering machine picked up.

"Hi! I'm out! Leave a message!" Martha's voice reached us.

Martha apologized even as another voice started speaking.

"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?"

"It's mum." Martha explained. "It'll wait."

"All right then, pretend that you're out if you like. I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested."

Martha quickly turned on the TV. An old man appeared on the screen, talking to a bunch of reporters. A woman stood a few paces behind him. She must have been Martha's sister.

"_The details are top secret,"_ The old professor, somewhere in his seventies, was saying.

"How could Tish end up on the news?" Martha wondered out loud.

"_Tonight, I will demonstrate a device…"_ The TV continued.

"She's got a new job. PR for some research lab."

"…_with the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human."_

Martha switched off the TV. She turned back to the Doctor.

"Sorry. You were saying we should-?"

The Doctor stared intently at the now empty screen frowning. Shaking himself out of it, he nodded. "Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what we said."

"Yeah. I suppose things just kind of… escalated."

"Hmm. Seems to happen to me a lot."

"Thank you. For everything." Martha said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

It suddenly hit me. She was saying her farewells. It _was _over.

The Doctor smiled just the tiniest bit. "It was my pleasure." He then turned to me. "Kylie?"

I nodded, stiffly. I was angry at him, even if I didn't really have a right to. He'd given me an opportunity to travel with him, and I knew _very _few had that.

And yet, he'd given me _hope. _That even if my Timepiece was ruined, even if I couldn't travel with it anymore, the Doctor would still be there. That the adventure still wasn't over. If he hadn't told me he wanted us to keep travelling with him, I wouldn't have held it against him. But he _had_, and that's what angered me.

I tried smiling at him, but I knew my eyes didn't fool him.

"Goodbye, Doctor."

He nodded back. "You sure you want to stay here?"

"Yeah."

With another nod, and a small smile, he turned on his heel and climbed back into the TARDIS.

Martha and I watched quietly, I think still dumb with the realization that everything was over. When the TARDIS fully disappeared, we turned towards each other. I realized Martha had tears forming in her eyes.

She held them back, however, and I smiled at her in reassurance.

"So, this is goodbye then?" I asked.

"You could stay, if you want." She offered. "I could help get you settled."

I smiled at her, but shook my head. "No, but thanks. I'm going to head to Cardiff. I have some human money still stashed around for emergencies, so it'll be no problem."

Suddenly, she hugged me. A bit surprised, I hugged back.

"Good luck," she said, smiling. "Find me if you ever need anything."

"I'll visit." I promised.

And with a last smile, I stepped out her door and into the human world.

My priorities were clear. Reach Cardiff, try to get into Torchwood, find a way to fix the Timepiece, and disappear.

_Should be easy, _I thought with a dry laugh.

I hadn't even walked a block when suddenly the wind picked up. My hair blew back from my face as I came to a stop. I watched, apprehensive, as the TARDIS slowly materialized into view.

The doors opened and Martha popped out. "You coming?" she asked with a smile.

I couldn't stop the small smile forming on my face.

"Of course."

* * *

I stared at myself in the mirror and grinned.

I liked what I saw.

The burgundy dress hugged my curves and settled nicely on my flat stomach. The fabric was soft, and I liked how it felt against my legs. I hadn't had the chance to dress up in a long time, and I found it oddly exciting, even if I had never been one to enjoy the expensive events.

Martha helped pile up my hair stylishly, with twists and twirls that I had no idea someone could do. If one thing was for sure, Martha knew what she was doing. She'd already helped me with the make-up, insisting that she wanted to help, even as I'd told her that I was capable of doing it.

Now, I just had to face the Doctor.

I'd walked into the TARDIS, Martha pulling me by the hand towards the wardrobe. The Doctor had been hunched over the console, fussing with the controls.

Or eyes had met for only a second before I was whisked away.

I was still angry. Even if he'd come back, it was only a matter of time until he left again. He'd only settle this Lazarus business and then he would leave.

I didn't want to be angry. I don't think he really deserved it. But still, it was one thing to leave us after he had promised us one trip; it was another thing entirely after asking us to actually travel with him.

"Kylie?" Martha called.

I slipped on my heels, balancing with one hand on a wall. "Coming!"

I walked towards the console room, grinning at Martha who was equally dressed up. The Doctor had his back to me, staring at something in a screen.

"Finally!" he said, hearing me approach. He turned around with a smile that immediately fell the second he saw me, his face melting into one of surprise.

I looked at Martha and tried smiling at her. However, her eyes were on the Doctor.

I ran my eyes over him, and he wasn't the only one surprised. He was dressed up in a tux and a bowtie, and I had to admit he looked incredibly handsome in it. If I'd still had the attraction patch, well, I'd be salivating right about now.

I'd always had a weak spot for men in tuxedos.

His hair was a mess as always, as if he'd just rolled out of bed and hadn't bothered with it. Which was probably true. There was probably a name for that kind of hair. I was sure of it.

I realized he was _still _staring.

He still looked surprised. I didn't know if I should be offended or not.

"Doctor?" I dared to ask.

He immediately snapped out of it, eyes wide as he avoided our gazes. "Come on, then!"

He strode out of the TARDIS, and we followed slowly after him, Martha and I exchanging tense looks.

Whatever the Doctor felt when he'd looked at me disappeared on our way to the party. He was his normal self, fussing with the cuffs of his dress shirt and looking completely uncomfortable out of his normal suit.

"Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

Martha shook her head, smiling. "It's not the outfit, that's just you. Anyway, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way."

"James Bond?" He said, considering it. He then nodded, like he approved. "Really?"

Martha chuckled at his expression.

I walked a few steps behind them, struggling with myself.

This was ridiculous. I was not a child anymore. I could not hold a grudge against him. He had given us another opportunity for one last adventure with him. I would not forgive myself if the only thing I did was brood. Yes, I felt betrayed. But, then again, we were merely friends, and not that close ones.

I let my anger go, deciding to enjoy the last moments I had with the strange duo.

"Kylie?" The Doctor glanced back at me, and I noticed I was being left behind. The amazed look in his eyes every time he looked at me still hadn't left. I did not understand where it came from.

I waved his concern off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Coming."

I increased my pace until I walked on the Doctor's other side.

If the air between us was edgier than usual, neither of us said anything about it.

We reached the building, where a huge sign claimed it as _Lazarus Laboratories_ in big slanted letters. Even from outside, I could see it brimming with people and photographers. We entered, our eyes instantaneously drawn to the white machine in the middle of the room.

The Doctor was easily distracted.

"Oh, look, they've got nibbles!" he exclaimed, taking some hors d'oeuvres from a passing tray. "I love nibbles!" His gleeful smile was almost contagious as he swallowed a whole one in one bite.

He offered the other one to me, and immediately ate it when I refused with a soft smile.

A woman approached us. Based on the similarities, I gathered it was Martha's sister. They greeted each other, hugging.

I found my eyes once again being dragged towards the Doctor. And in passing, I saw I wasn't the only one looking at him. Two different women, from two different parts of the room, also stared at him, admiring from atop glasses full of champagne. The Doctor was oblivious as he listened in into Martha's conversation, munching away at his 'nibbles'.

I couldn't blame them, the women. It was ridiculous the change in the Time Lord. He always carried an aura of confidence with him, the way he strode around like he knew what he was doing, eyes just brimming with intelligence. The tuxedo, the way it suddenly highlighted his looks, made up for a lethal combination.

One he didn't even seem aware of, which only seemed to add to the attraction.

One I couldn't help but admire.

I frowned, grabbing a glass of champagne from a nearby waiter. It was probably just the after effects form the attraction patch.

Right?

"This is Kylie, and this is, uh, the Doctor." Martha introduced us to her sister, thankfully dragging me back from my somewhat disturbing thoughts.

We shook Tish's hands, the Doctor smiling a 'hello!'

"Is he with you?" Tish asked Martha with a raised eyebrow.

Martha blushed, glancing quickly at the Doctor. "What? Uh, um, no. No!"she insisted when Tish merely continued looking at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Martha's sister said, looking at the Doctor and me. "Are you a couple?"

The Doctor almost choked on his food.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, he wishes."

The Doctor managed to swallow, shooting me a look as he raised an eyebrow, "That's not what you said back in New New York."

It was my time to splutter, and he had the gall to look smug. _Smug! _

"You- That's not- You know that was _not _my fault!"

He smirked, and I stared at him, staggered.

I rolled my eyes, swallowing the rest of my champagne in one gulp. "You know what? I'm going to the ladies room."

I strode off, leaving the empty glass in a nearby table. I skirted around a group of women, slowing when I noticed one of the women that had been ogling the Doctor was there, speaking.

"He is definitely one of the most handsome men here."

Another woman agreed with her. "He is. Though he came in with two women. I doubt he's single."

The first woman sighed. "I hope he's not. Do you see the hair? It's so very… fuck me."

I continued walking on towards the bathroom.

_Fuck-me hair._

That's definitely what that style was called. It had a nice ring to it. I wondered how he'd react if I called it that to his face.

Ah, that'd be fun.

I took care of business, smiling at a waiter as I came out and he offered another champagne glass.

I sipped it once, pausing at the edge of the crowd when the sound of a fork tapping against a glass cut the conversations short, and obtaining everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the old man I recognized from the TV said. "I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I'm going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you'll awake to a world that will be changed forever."

The crowd watched quietly as he entered a cabinet in the machine. There was a high-pitched whir and a blue light flooded the room. I squinted through the light, watching as the machined powered up and pillars around the cabinet began to spin around, going faster and faster. It was all very dramatic.

An alarm called everyone's attention, and the equipment began malfunctioning, throwing sparks as the pillars began to move dangerously fast. I watched from behind the crowd, wishing I were taller so I could see more. There was no doubt in my mind the Doctor was already somehow involved.

Smoke flooded the room, and I could feel the audience flinch with every spark that flew.

The machine came to a sudden stop, and I saw Martha and the Doctor rushing about.

"Get it open!" The Doctor yelled.

Martha opened the door, and from the smoke, we saw Lazarus' shadow appear. But the person who stepped out wasn't old. No, the man that stepped out looked 40 human years younger.

The crowd gasped and murmured. I looked, astounded, as the now young Lazarus ran his hands over his face, realizing that it had worked.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus." He announced. "I am seventy-six years old and I am reborn!"

The audience burst in applause.

I frowned. I knew this wasn't part of human history. It wasn't.

I ducked through people, shouldering my way through until I finally reached the Doctor.

"It can't be the same guy." Martha was saying. "It's impossible. It must be a trick."

"Oh, it's not a trick. I wished it where."

"What just happened, then?" I said as I stepped beside them, watching as Lazarus posed for pictures. "This is wrong."

The Doctor gave a small, barely perceptible nod, his eyes never leaving Lazarus. "He just changed what it means to be human."

"This isn't supposed to happen," I muttered.

"History can be rewritten."

I shook my head. "But not like this. It's almost… unnatural."

He remained quiet.

After a moment, we approached Lazarus and his wife, watching as he shoveled the hors d'oeuvres into his mouth. His wife watched, aghast.

"Richard!" She exclaimed.

"I'm famished." He growled.

"Energy deficit." The Doctor intruded. "Always happens with this kind of process."

"You speak as if you this every day, Mr-" Lazarus trailed off.

"Doctor. And, well, no, not every day, but I have some experience in this kind of transformation."

Lazarus smiled condescendingly. "That's not possible."

The Doctor grinned. "Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. That's- that's inspired."

Lazarus raised his eyebrows. "You understand the theory, then."

"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables."

The newly young human shrugged, slipping another hors d'oeuvre into his mouth. "No experiment is entirely without risk.

"That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"You're not qualified to comment," Lazarus' wife – Lady Thaw, as they called her, - butted in.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded."

Lazarus smiled again, but his eyes were completely cold. "Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."

"How would you know?" I asked, if a bit roughly. "You've no way of knowing until you've run tests."

Lazarus laughed. "Look at me! You can see what happened. I am all the proof you need."

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially." Lady Thaw assured.

"Commercially?" Martha exclaimed. "You are joking. That'll cause chaos."

The amusement bled off Lazarus' face. "Not chaos. Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."

The Doctor glared. "This isn't about improving. It's about you and your customers living a little longer."

Lazarus shook his head slowly, and spoke like he was speaking to a child. "Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."

"Richard," Lady thaw said. "We have things to discuss. Upstairs." She left, and Lazarus trailed after her.

"Goodbye, Doctor." He said. "In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were."

He paused, taking Martha's hand in his, and kissed it. I watched Martha's face contort in disgust.

I stared as he left. There was something incredibly wrong here. Something probably not entirely human.

The Doctor sighed. "Ooh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done."

"So what do we do now?" Martha asked.

The Doctor inhaled, looking around. "Now… well, this building must be full of laboratories. I say we do our own tests."

Martha looked at her hand. "Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?"

The Doctor's face changed into one of surprise and admiration. "Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star."

I didn't hear the rest. I was already slipping away.

The Doctor wasn't one much for espionage. However, I'd found through the years that that was one of the most capable ways of finding out what you wanted to know. I just had to find Lazarus and his wife. Perhaps then, I'd find what was wrong here.

And there was something definitely wrong.

I left the Doctor to his research, and I ducked into a stairway.

_Up we go_.

* * *

_So, the Doctor got a bit tongue tied when he saw Kylie in a dress._

_Tell me what you think?;) _


	17. Still A Man

_Thanks for the suggestions/reviews/favorites/follows! You make me happy, guys:)_

_I liked writing this one so, enjoy!_

* * *

The building had five floors. I found them on the fifth.

The woman, Lady Thaw, was pacing back and forth, wringing her hands as she spoke. Professor Lazarus, on the other hand, simply stared out the impressive windows, coldly sipping his drink.

I crouched behind one of the many desks in the room, straining my ear.

"It's me who made this all possible." The woman said, motioning with her hands. "This is my triumph, and I will not be denied, not by you, not after everything I've done here!"

"You backed me because you saw a profit. Your concern was financial." Lazarus scoffed.

"Well! You want the money as much as I do. We had a plan. When the device is ready, I'll be rejuvenated, too. We could be rich and young and together!"

I heard her desperate claims, and I imagined Lazarus sneering and shaking his head.

"You think I'd waste another lifetime on you?" he said lowly.

"Did that process make you even more cruel?"

"No, my love. That I learnt from you. You have a gift for it."

"Then you know that I'll protect my involvement in the project. I'm sure Mr. Saxon will be interested-"

I heard the cracking as Lady Thaw trailed off. Lazarus grunted, and I peeked from my hiding place, watching as Lazarus' face contorted in pain.

"What's going on?" Lady Thaw asked him.

"It must just be-" Lazarus gasped, before he jerked unnaturally. "Ah!"

"What is it?" She asked again, worriedly.

"I'll be fine in a moment. It's probably just a cramp."

He gasped again, his bones cracking as he contorted unnaturally once again. He fell to the floor, and started to convulse. I kept watching, not willing to give myself away just for the sake of helping him.

The Doctor would have helped him.

I wasn't the Doctor.

Lady Thaw wasn't much help either.

"Oh! Richard!" She exclaimed. "Is it some sort of seizure? What should I do? I don't understand what's happening."

Lazarus screamed. Bones suddenly began ripping out from his body, destroying his expensive suit. He grew, and I saw how his body cracked and reformed until he became a scorpion-like creature.

He growled, and Lady Thaw screamed.

I only just saw his tail poised and ready, seconds away from striking Lady Thaw.

"Hey, you ugly bastard! Leave her alone!"

I don't think I fully realized what I'd done until his glowing eyes turned on me. His body had become a completely different creature, but his face remained oddly human-like. It made him all that uglier.

I ducked away just as his tail twitched, barely avoiding the stinger as it rushed past me.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, _I thought to myself, gasping as I threw myself behind the desk, once again avoiding the lethal sting.

I just _had _to play the hero, didn't I?

"You missed, you ugly piece of shit!"

That only made him angrier. His stinger blurred, and I moved blindly, shaking as I felt it move inches from my face.

"Come on, pretty lady," he taunted. "Come to the Professor."

I took off running, cursing my stupidity. It was one thing to throw myself in danger if I had a plan. If I had the Doctor for backup. It was another thing entirely if I had _no freaking idea_ on how to deal with the situation.

A scream lodged itself in my throat as he launched himself forward and I fell in order to avoid him. I scrambled to my feet, and ducked into a broom closet, closing the door behind him. Something slammed against the door, and I winced, praising the heavens when the door held the thing's weight.

"Come out, come _ouuut_." It hissed.

"Or what? You'll huff and puff until you blow the door in?"

The door shook in its hinges as a weight settled against it.

"_Nooo," _It hissed. "I'll just come back for you later."

In what could only have been seconds later, a scream thundered outside.

Lady Thaw. Why the _hell _hadn't she run?

I tried pushing the door but it wouldn't budge. I shoved it with all my strength, but it was no use. He had blocked the door with something.

I rested my head against the door, scrunching my eyes shut as I was forced to hear Lady Thaw's choking screams go and go until they stopped.

There was no doubt in my mind she was dead.

It was silent then. Footsteps approached the door, and I frowned. Footsteps?

"Don't you worry, pretty little thing." He said, and his voice was back to normal. He had reverted himself to his original human form. "I'll come for you later."

I sighed in relief as I heard his footsteps disappear.

On to my second problem. I didn't know how to get out.

I leaned against the door, sliding down until I sat on the dirty floor.

Ah, hell.

_This _is what happens for trying to help. For trying to be like the Doctor. For thinking it would _impress _him.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

And the woman was dead, anyway. I'd been no help at all. Instead of leaving her to her death (something that happened either way,) I tried to play the hero and now not only was I locked in a supply closet, but there was no way I could warn the Doctor from here.

I needed to get one of those – what was it that humans called it?

Ah, cellphones. One of those.

I leaned my head back against the door.

Now what?

My hands ran over the familiar ridges of the Timepiece. Normally, this would be easy. I'd turn the wheel here, put a number there, pressed the button and I would be out, anytime or anywhere.

I flicked the Timepiece's face one more time, not surprised at all when nothing seemed to happen.

Some people would kill me for this. For letting such an important object get ruined. For even having the Timepiece in the first place. I knew that if they found me, there would be hell to pay.

But then again, how could you find someone that could be anywhere and anytime?

The faint murmur of people talking dragged me back from my thoughts.

I sprang to my feet, and started hitting the door with my fists.

"Help! Somebody! I'm trapped!"

A huge sound of something big being dragged, and then, the door burst open, Martha and the Doctor appearing before me.

I laughed in relief. "About time."

They stood beside a huge, marble desk; probably what had trapped me inside. The room looked in shambles due to my little fight with Lazarus. Martha and the Doctor looked surprised, but also relieved.

"Kylie!" The Doctor exclaimed. "We'd wondered where you'd run off to."

"I wanted to see if I could find out anything on Lazarus and…" I trailed off, remembering. "Lady Thaw!"

I ran towards the windows, and behind a desk, I saw Lady Thaw's skeletal body. Her skin had darkened, and her body appeared shriveled up.

"Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha gasped.

"Used to be." The Doctor muttered. "Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out. Like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

"Lazarus." Martha guessed.

I nodded, frowning. "It was. I don't know the mechanics of what happened inside the machine, but it seems his DNA was altered or something. He turned into another creature. Tried to do the same to me as Lady Thaw."

"So he's changed already."

"Not necessarily." The Doctor said, quietly. "You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."

"So he might do this again?"

The Doctor nodded before looking at me. "Are you alright? Did he do anything to you?"

I shook my head. "Surprisingly enough, no, I'm not harmed."

He nodded. "Good. Let's go."

We rushed towards the lift and back towards the reception.

"I can't see him." Martha grumbled.

I couldn't, either. I wasn't tall enough to _see _anything except for a few feet in front of me. The Doctor, towering over us, flicked his eyes over the crowd of people.

"He can't be far," he said. "Keep looking."

He walked away, and I followed, leaving Martha behind to talk with her big brother.

"_Where _is he?" The Doctor grumbled to himself, looking around. He stepped backwards, not noticing the woman behind him, and stepped on her foot.

She gasped in pain, drawing the Doctor's attention. I realized I recognized the woman. She was the one who'd been talking about the Doctor. The one who'd baptized his hairstyle as fuck-mehair. I hovered behind him, amused.

"Look where you're going, you bumbling-" she cut herself off, noticing whom she was talking to. "Don't you worry about it, handsome." She purred.

The Doctor looked a bit startled by her change in mood. "I'm sorry. Have you seen Professor Lazarus?"

She shrugged it away. "No. I must say, I _love _your hair. What's your name?"

The Doctor looked anxious to leave. "Doctor."

"Doctor Who?"

"Just Doctor."

She laughed, and the sound was low and throaty. "Alright, Doctor." She stepped closer to the Doctor, sliding a hand down his chest, and I saw how he widened his eyes almost comically. "How about we get out of here?"

"Umm, you- I should- umm-" he stuttered.

The woman's hand was now grasping his shirt, pulling him closer.

"Oh, there you are sweetie!" I said, pulling him by the hand until he was dislodged from the _very _ambitious woman. I interlaced our fingers through. "I've been looking for you."

The woman's face had twisted into one of contempt. She was shooting me daggers with her eyes. I smiled back sweetly at her.

The Doctor surprised me, sliding his hand out of mine and instead, placing it around my waist. It was strange, the warm tingles that exploded through me.

"I'm sorry for stepping on you." He told the woman. "If you'll excuse me."

He steered me away, his arm still around my waist.

"Thank you." He whispered.

I acknowledged him with a nod, still struggling to understand the warm feeling that had flooded me. His arm disappeared from around my waist, and I felt something distinctly similar to disappointment rush through me, further confusing me.

I pushed those thoughts aside, deciding to deal with them later. Now, we had a dangerous creature to catch.

We approached Martha, still speaking with her brother.

"…He was getting' cozy with Tish a couple of minutes ago." He was saying.

We reached them right as Martha's mother did.

"With Tish?" Martha asked worriedly.

"Ah, Doctor." Martha's mother said.

The Doctor didn't seeme to put much attention to her. "Where did they go?"

"Upstairs I think, why?"

"Doctor-" Martha's mother insisted.

The Doctor brushed past her, completely ignoring her, and making her spill her drink all over her. I winced in sympathy, but followed the Doctor.

"I'm speaking to you!" She yelled after him.

"Not now, mum!" Martha yelled back.

We rushed out of the lift once again to Lazarus' office, finding it empty.

"Where are they?" Martha asked desperately.

The Doctor took his sonic screwdriver out. "Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up."

He waved the sonic screwdriver around, the beeping increasing drastically when hi pointed it at the ceiling.

"Got him." He said.

I looked up at the ceiling. "Where?"

"But this is the top floor!" Martha said, and then it dawned on her. "The roof!"

We ran towards the stairs.

I wobbled in my heels as I tried following the Doctor without getting left behind. Heels were incredibly stupid to use near the Doctor. He had a knack of bursting into an unexpected run every five minutes.

We walked out on the roof, the cold air a relief after the staircase. Lazarus and Tish stood, staring out into the distance as he talked.

"I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you. Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act-"

"Falls the shadow." The Doctor finished.

Lazarus and Tish turned towards us, surprised.

"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed." The Professor commented. His eyes turned to me. "I see they found you."

I made a face at him.

"Tish, get away from him." Martha warned.

"What? Don't tell me what to do."

I rolled my eyes at the display of sibling rivalry.

The Doctor ignored this. "I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all."

"You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more would I get done in two or three or four?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters; it's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be." Lazarus said with a grin.

"Or what a curse." The Doctor's word wiped the smile right off his face. "Look at what you've done to yourself."

"Who are you to judge me?"

"Over here, Tish." Martha said.

Tish walked over to Martha immediately beginning to bicker.

I watched as Lazarus twitched behind them, his bones cracking as his body contorted once again.

"Ah, hell." I muttered under my breath.

The creature was back, still looking a like a cross between a human skeleton and a scorpion. It growled, rearing back.

The Doctor's eyes had grown wide. "Run!"

We raced towards the stairwell, the Doctor closing the door behind us and sealing it with the sonic screwdriver. Martha ran to the lift, pressing the call button.

"Are you okay?" she asked Tish.

"I was going to snog him." She said, dumbfounded.

The door banged, and immediately the lights where cut off. Sirens began to go blare and a computerized warning rang.

"Security breach. Security breach. Security breach."

"What's happening?" Martha asked Tish.

"Uh, an intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts. Seals the exits."

"He must be breaking through that door." The Doctor muttered. "The stairs, come on!"

We ran down the stairs, hearing the door crash open behind us.

"Ah, hell. He's inside!" I yelled.

"Haven't got much time!" The Doctor yelled back.

We reached the reception, almost tumbling one over the other. People where looking around and muttering, not knowing what was happening.

"Tish!" The Doctor said. "Is there another way out of here?"

"There's an exit on the corner, but it'll be locked now."

The Doctor tossed the sonic screwdriver to Martha. "Martha, setting 54. Hurry."

Martha and Tish ran off. He then jumped on the platform in front of Lazarus' glowing machine.

"Listen to me!" The Doctor yelled. "You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous." A woman called back. "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."

Glass shattered, and Lazarus appeared on a landing above before leaping down to the reception floor. The humans screamed, running towards the exit as Martha and Tish opened the doors.

I heard the Doctor scream a warning right before another woman became another victim of the professor. He then approached Martha's brother and mother, who sat on the ground, stunned. Red was spilling from a cut in her brother's forehead.

"Lazarus! Leave them alone!" The Doctor yelled. "What's the point if you can't control it? The mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool, a vain old man who thought he could defy Nature. Only Nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!"

Lazarus roared, and the Doctor took off running through the halls, the creature right behind him.

Idiot Time Lord. He was going to get himself killed.

"Kylie!" Martha called before I could decide to follow the idiot man. I approached her and her family, seeing her examine her brother, who was still bleeding from a cut in his head.

"Hold this, please?" she handed me the Doctor's screwdriver.

"What's the Doctor doing?" Tish asked us.

"He's trying to buy us some time." Martha said, still preoccupied with the injury.

"He's an idiot." I muttered, looking at the hallway where he'd disappeared.

"Let's not waste it. Leo, loot at me. Let me see your eyes." She turned to her mother. "He's got a concussion. We need to help him downstairs. Tish, move! We need to get out of here!"

She urged her family downstairs, and I followed, unhappy with the situation.

Downstairs, we saw all of the partygoers, trapped inside by impenetrable doors. They congregated around the exit, hitting the glass and screaming, desperate to get out.

"We can't get out!" Tish screamed. "We're trapped!"

I glanced around. "Martha, there has to be an override switch."

She nodded, turning to her sister. "Where's the security desk?"

"There."

I ran in the direction she pointed and jumped over the desk. I ran to the panel layout before pointing the sonic screwdriver at it. I pressed the button, relieved when it made its usual sound. The power came back on suddenly, and the doors burst open. Everybody rushed outside.

The sonic screwdriver was surprisingly useful. I wondered if the Doctor would let me have one.

I ran back to Martha.

"I've got to go back," she told her family.

Her mother shook her head. "You can't! You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you."

"I don't care. I have to go."

I spoke up. "No, you don't."

She looked at me, confused. "What?"

"I'll go." I raised a hand to stop her from interrupting. "You're a Doctor. You need to help outside. Look at your brother, he's bleeding."

She looked torn, before finally sighing, relenting. "Take care of him."

I grinned. "Of course. I'll meet you right outside in a while."

I took off, running towards the hall the Doctor had vanished in. A huge explosion shook the floor, and I wobbled, veering in the direction it had come from. Where else would he be?

I turned a corner, surprised when another shape collided into me, holding me by the waist before I could fall. It took a confused second to realize it was the Doctor holding on to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"Did you really think I was going to let you have all the fun?" I grinned and held out the sonic screwdriver. "And well, I thought you might need this."

"How did you-?"

"I heard the explosion. Guessed it was you."

"I blasted Lazarus."

"Did you kill him?"

Even as the words left my mouth, Lazarus came crashing down the hall, struggling to move in the tight space.

"More sort of annoyed him, I'd say."

The Doctor grabbed me by the hand and pulled me as we ran through the halls and back to the deserted reception room. Lazarus roared as he raced behind us.

"Ah, hell. What now?" I asked.

"We can't lead him outside." He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me towards Lazarus' machine. "Come on, get in."

We crammed ourselves into the machine, and the Doctor slammed it shut behind him.

It took me a second to realize the warm tingles were back. The small space was cramped, made only for one person, not for two. We were pressed together from our knees and up to our chests. I was eyelevel with his mouth, probably due to my heels.

We were breathing hard, and I could feel the exhilaration rush through me. I breathed in his unique scent. He was incredibly distracting, it didn't help that we were breathing hard, pushing our chests further together.

Another crash brought me back to the present. I realized the Doctor was incredibly still, looking determinably over my shoulder.

"Doctor?" I asked. "Are we hiding?"

His eyes glanced quickly to me before looking away. "No, he knows we're here. But this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us."

"But, now what? We're trapped!"

"Well, yeah, that's a slight problem."

I rolled my eyes. "So? You don't have a plan?"

He looked down at me, and this time his eyes held mine. "Yes. The plan was to get inside here!"

"Then _what?"_

"Well…" he dragged out the word. "Then I'd come up with another plan."

I glared at him. "Oh, okay then."

Another crash from outside.

He shifted, and I drew in an involuntary breath. "Um, my sonic screwdriver's inside my jacket pocket. Think you can reach it?"

I did, sliding my hand over his chest as I reached into the pocket. I hoped by cheeks hadn't lit up like I thought they had. I handed him the sonic screwdriver.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Improvise."

He started sliding down in order to reach the floor, and I closed my eyes when I felt his whole body brush against mine.

"Doctor?"

"Sorry."

"Are you trying to get back at me because of New New York?"

He didn't respond. I glanced down, and saw that his eyes were on my legs. I noticed that the fabric was pulled up enough that my right upper thigh was revealed.

I rolled my eyes. He may be a Time Lord, he may have been around hundreds of years, but he was still a man.

I cleared my throat. Eyes wide, he looked away, trying to focus on the floor as he opened a panel.

"I like your hair," I said after a pause, staring down at him.

Actually, right at the moment, I was very tempted to touch it. I restrained myself, thinking that I shouldn't try to make things more awkward than they were.

He looked up at me, a grin playing at his mouth. I found in peculiarly intimate, the way he looked up at me, the way his eyes twinkled as he smiled.

"Thanks."

He looked down again, working with some cables. He paused, as if remembering something. He glanced up again.

"Uh, nice shoes."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You should tell that to the TARDIS then. Try again."

He glanced back down again. "You look nice," He mumbled.

I grinned, enjoying his embarrassment. "Nice?"

He mumbled something else.

"What?"

He mumbled something again.

"Still can't hear you."

He finally looked up at me again, scowling. "You look gorgeous tonight, happy?"

The warm feeling flooded me once again. "Yes. Thank you. You clean up very nicely as well."

He grumbled something, and returned to work.

A blue light suddenly lit up the capsule.

"Doctor, what's happening?"

"Sounds like he's switched the machine on."

I frowned. "Well, that's not good."

"I was hoping it was gonna take him a little bit longer to work that out."

The lights blinked and flashed.

I squinted against the light. "I don't want to hurry you, but, you know…"

"I know, I know. Nearly done."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it."

I paused. "Will that kill him?"

"When he transforms, he's three times his size-cellular triplication- so he's spreading himself thin."

The light became more intense. "Shit, Doctor!"

"Just one more!"

He pulled a wire and suddenly the lights stopped, and the machine rumbled to a stop. The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, me right behind him.

"Well, that was close," I said.

"Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit our of practice."

Lazarus was lying on the floor facedown in his human form, naked.

I frowned. "He seems so… human again. It's kind of pitiful."

The Doctor glanced at me. "Eliot saw that, too." He paused. "'This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.'"


	18. The Beast Inside

I'M SORRY

This is by far the longest it's taken me to update. I'M SORRY! These last two weeks have been _completely_ crazy, but guys, I promise I haven't stopped thinking about this. I promise you I _will _finish this story (and it will be the first one ever that I do! Finish, that is.) I will try to keep updating more regularly, but keep in mind this month will be incredibly busy for me... so don't be surprised if some chapters take a while.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! Especially those who've mentioned how much they like Kylie and the Doctor together. Thanks! You make my day:)

Enjoy!

* * *

Lazarus' body was taken out in a bag and carried out on a gurney. We watched from the steps, his body disappearing inside the ambulance.

"At least that's over." I said, and immediately regretted my words. That probably meant the Doctor would leave us for good, this time.

"Yea, but-" He grunted. "If I could just get this thing _off."_

I looked at him, watching as he pulled at his bowtie, trying to untangle it from the knot he'd made.

I rolled my eyes and shooed his hands away. "Let me."

I made quick work of the knot, leaving the two ends hanging from his neck.

"Thank you," he said, lowly.

I met his eyes, blinking when I realized how close they were. I quickly stepped back, increasing the space between us.

"Uh, yeah. Whatever."

"Doctor! Kylie!" Martha rushed towards us, enveloping the both of us in hug.

The Doctor disentangled himself. "Ah, Mrs. Jones!" He called Martha's mother, Francine, grinning. "We still haven't finished our chat."

Her hand drew back, blurred, and then the Doctor's head snapped to a side, clutching his cheek. I stared, surprised. She had slapped the Doctor.

Francine glared. "Keep away from my daughter."

"Mum, what are you doing?" Martha asked, baffled.

"All their mothers, every time." The Doctor muttered under his breath.

I chuckled, watching as he rubbed his cheek. He saw me, and shot me a look.

"He is dangerous!" Francine screeched. "I've been told things."

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked, bewildered.

Francine took her daughter's shoulders with her hands, and met her eyes. "Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction."

"This isn't his fault! He saved us, all of us!"

Martha's brother spoke up. "It was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place. I'd say technically, it's her fault."

A crash distracted us, the Doctor looking at Martha and me with wide eyes before rushing towards its source. Martha and I quickly followed, Tish running behind.

The ambulance's doors were open, and empty husks of the medics stared back at us. I grimaced.

"Lazarus, back from the dead." The Doctor muttered, taking out his sonic screwdriver. "Should've known, really."

He waved his sonic screwdriver around, once again trying to locate the creature that was Lazarus.

"Where's he gone?" Martha asked.

The Doctor stared into the distance. "That way. The church."

"Cathedral." Tish corrected. "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."

We nodded in unison. The Doctor started in the cathedral's direction. I stayed and watched as Martha stopped her sister who tried to follow.

"Please stay. Try to calm mum down." Martha pleaded with her.

"But-"

"Please."

With a sight, Tish nodded and head towards their family.

We took off. I was tempted to take my heels off. But then again, the sidewalk didn't look exactly clean. Stepping on glass was just what I needed to make the day even better.

The Doctor was more cautious entering this time. He still kept his screwdriver raised, trying to locate Lazarus' exact location. We trailed after him.

"Do you think he's in here?" Martha asked.

"Where would _you _go if you were looking for sanctuary?" The Doctor posed.

We moved through the empty cathedral and between the empty seats. It was eerie, a place so huge, echoing the silence.

I heard the gasping before we reached the empty space behind the altar. Lazarus sat there, shivering and panting, the red blanket from the ambulance the only thing covering him.

He glanced at us before speaking, his voice low and raspy. "I came here before. A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat there, just a child… the sound of planes and bombs outside."

"The Blitz." The Doctor said.

Lazarus raised his eyebrows. "You've read about it."

"I was there."

Lazarus scoffed. "You're too young."

The doctor raised his eyebrows back. "So are you."

Lazarus laughed, but it was soon turned into gasps of pain.

"In the morning," Lazarus continued. "The fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again."

The Doctor was walking around Lazarus slowly. He was staring up. I followed his gaze, noticing we were underneath the bell tower. I didn't know what, but the Doctor was planning something.

"…So defenseless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today."

Lazarus' tone turned sharp. "That's what I _did _today."

The Doctor's own voice also turned dark. "What about the other people who died?"

"They were nothing." The professor stated calmly. "I changed the course of history."

"Any of them might have done, too. You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."

"No, Doctor. Avoiding death. That's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…" he smirked. "…Successful."

Lazarus' face contorted in pain as he groaned. Bones cracked as he writhed.

"Look at yourself!" The Doctor exclaimed. "You're mutating! You've no control over it. You call that a success?"

"I call it progress." Lazarus gasped. "I'm more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."

The Doctor shook his head, and the expression on his face changed almost imperceptibly as he shook his head. He looked like he knew a secret that nobody else seemed to get. "There's no such thing as an ordinary human."

I looked at the Doctor, surprised. That was a bold statement, especially one meant for a whole species.

Lazarus gasped before doubling over and groaning as the bones kept creaking and cracking.

I frowned. "Doctor, he's changing."

"I know." He whispered back at Martha and me. "If I can get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've an idea that might work."

We glanced up.

"Up there?" Martha asked.

The Doctor nodded.

Lazarus looked up. "You're so sentimental, Doctor. Maybe you _are _older than you look."

The Doctor's voice was deceptively soft. "I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tired of watching everything turn to dust." He squatted beside Lazarus. "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you end up alone."

I swallowed hard. I wondered where the words came from. If the Doctor was holding a grudge against the universe. He had lost his whole species. Family and friends alike.

Another thought occurred to me. Maybe that was why he didn't want us traveling with him. Maybe he didn't want to become attached to someone. Maybe he didn't want to keep losing people.

Humans died so easily. So quickly. He not only lost other Time Lords, but human companions as well. He had lived through countless generations of humans.

But then again, I wasn't human. I still had a long time left.

"That's a price worth paying." Lazarus argued.

The Doctor paused for a second, his eyes infinitely sad. "Is it?"

_Was it? _

Lazarus cried out again as his bones cracked.

"I will feed soon." He said.

The Doctor shook his head, his eyes never leaving his. "I'm not gonna let that happen."

"You've not been able to stop me so far."

I exchanged a look with Martha, before motioning up to the bell tower. It was time to put the Doctor's plan in motion.

We stepped forward.

"Leave him, Lazarus! He's old and bitter. Thought you had a taste for fresher meat."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Martha, no."

I didn't let her have all the fun. "You told me you were coming back to end me, Lazarus. Aren't you going to keep your promise?"

Lazarus snarled, a sound that was more beast than human. He rushed in our direction, and Martha and I burst out running in the staircase's direction.

"No!" The Doctor yelled.

"Doctor!" Martha yelled back. "The tower!"

We climbed the step of the narrow spiral staircase. We heard Lazarus following us, grunting and screaming. Growls and snarls reached our ears.

I cursed. "Did you hear that?"

"He's changed again." Martha gasped, wide eyed. "We've got to lead him up."

We reached the upper level when we heard the Doctor's voice. "Martha! Kylie!"

We peered out of an archway and looked down.

"Doctor!" We both yelled.

"Take him to the top, the very top of the bell tower, d'you hear me?" He yelled.

"Up to the top!" Martha repeated.

I heard the sound of clicking against stone floor. I looked back, watching the scorpion-like creature that was Lazarus appear from the staircase.

I pulled Martha's arm and bursting into a run. "Martha! Come on!"

We reached the bell tower, ahead of him probably only because of the small spaces he had to travel through. The bell tower was a narrow, circular walkway with wooden rails.

"Ah hell." I frowned. "I hope the Doctor know what he's doing. We're trapped here."

"This is where he said to bring him."

I sighed. "I know. We're bait."

Martha met my eyes. "We have to trust him."

I nodded, and I didn't know if I envied or pitied Martha. She had complete faith on the Doctor. And I couldn't help but feel it was blind faith, one she was willing to risk her neck for. Not that I doubted the Doctor's intentions, but it was a dangerous situation that the Doctor had no control of.

I whisked those thoughts away as Lazarus slipped into the room in a move oddly graceful for a creature his size.

"Ladies." He hissed.

He attacked. His tail rushing past us as we ducked. He roared, attacking again and I threw myself to the floor, just barely avoiding it. Martha screamed, having avoided it one by inches.

The echoes of the scream fell away and I heard the sound of the catherdral's organ playing, an odd soundtrack for the fear we now experienced. Slowly, the organ's music became louder.

Part of the railing fell on Martha's side, and I watched in horror as she wobbled and fell.

"Martha!" I screamed.

I could just see the top of her hands barely clutching the surface as she held on. Lazarus towered over her.

"Get away from her!" I screamed at him over the organ's sound, but it was no use. His eyes were firmly trained on his new prey.

Suddenly, the organ stopped being merely a soundtrack and the volume exploded. I fell to my knees, hands clutching at my ears. It hurt _so _badly, and I didn't even know _what _hurt. I only knew it did. I knew I had to help Martha, but it was too loud to think, never mind _move. _

I cracked open an eyelid, only just realizing I had closed my eyes. Lazarus was shaking in his place, wobbling as he tethered on the edge. His mouth was open in roar muted by the organ's nose. He abruptly toppled over the edge, disappearing down below.

The organ's sounds came to an end, and shakily, I stood up and approached the edge, gasping in relief as I saw Martha still hanging from the edge. I rushed forward and took hold of her arm, hauling her upwards.

"I've got you." I told her.

"Martha?" We held the Doctor call up. "Kylie?"

Martha was gasping and shaking, sobs escaping her as she tried to relax.

"We're okay!" I called back, realizing Martha was too shaken for her to respond.

"Thank you." She gasped.

I smiled. "It's the Doctor we should be thanking."

"I told you we had to trust him."

"You did. He's quite something, isn't he?"

This time, she smiled. "Oh, that he is."

Slowly, we stood up and started making our way down, still shaken. Martha was still in a bit of shock. I helped her every time she wobbled.

We reached the bottom, and the Doctor was already there, waiting for us. He hugged us, an arm around each of us.

"I didn't know you could play?" Martha asked, smiling as we stepped back from the hug.

The Doctor scratched the back of his head, moving restlessly as he grinned. "Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."

"Hmm, especially about playing aloud."

I shook my head, wincing. "Tell me about it."

The Doctor shot me a grin that immediately melted. "You're bleeding."

I blinked. "What?"

He pushed back my hair, tilting my head to the side as his fingers softly brushed my jaw and the side of my neck. I shivered.

"Yeah. Your ears are bleeding." He stepped back, his face one of remorse. "I'm sorry, I should have thought of it before. Siren blood. You pick up sound waves awfully easily."

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Your plan worked."

He shook his head, but let it be.

* * *

We were back at Martha's apartment, the TARDIS fitting cozily inside.

I was filled with crushing disappointment and nervousness. He was leaving. I was staying. He was leaving me to stay on Earth.

"Something else that just kind of escalated, then." The Doctor said, smiling softly.

"I see a pattern developing." Martha smiled back. "You should take more care in the future. And the past, and whatever other time period you find yourself in."

"It's good fun, though, isn't it?"

Martha laughed. "Yeah."

The Doctor glanced at me at my place against the wall. His eyes met mine, and the ever-there spark still twinkled. I looked away. Those eyes still unsettled me. There was too much in them. Too old. Too sad. Too kind. I think I was starting to like them a little too much.

"So, what'd you say, one more trip?" He asked.

My eyes snapped up right back to his face, but he was looking at Martha.

Martha shook her head. "No. Sorry."

He looked surprised. "What do you mean? I thought you liked it."

"I do, but I can't go on like this. 'One more trip.' It's not fair."

"What're you talking about?"

"I don't want to be just a passenger anymore. Someone you take along for a treat. If that's how you still see me, well, I'd rather stay here."

I was surprised but happy for Martha. Maybe that would slap some sense into the Time Lord.

The Doctor nodded. "Okay, then. If that's what you want."

Martha looked crushed. "Right. But we've already said good-bye once today so it's really best if you just go."

She walked away and faced me, waiting for the TARDIS to disappear. I met her eyes, and I could see the unshed tears. The Doctor just waited, looking at her. I was disappointed when he didn't even look at me.

I sighed, looking back at Martha. I shook my head and smiled. Confused, she looked back.

"What is it?" She asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "What? I said okay."

Martha blinked. "Sorry?"

"Okay." The Doctor nodded his head at the TARDIS.

Martha's face broke into a huge smile. She hugged the Doctor, laughing. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!"

"Well, you were never really just a passenger, were you?" He smiled back. "Now, would you give me a minute with Kylie?"

Martha nodded, practically skipping inside the TARIDIS doors. I stared off after her, stomach churning.

"So?" He said.

I dragged my eyes towards him, frowning when I once again noticed how handsome he looked in the black suit. "So what?"

"Are you coming?"

I felt my breath catch. My heart started pumping in my ears. "You're asking?" He nodded, and I asked again, "You sure?"

He rolled his eyes. "I _am _asking, aren't I?"

I swallowed, my right hand drifting up to my ear. "Even if I still keep on getting hurt?"

He sighed. "Yes. Even though you've gotten hurt on every trip, yes, I'm asking. Now, will you?"

"Will you change your mind?"

He winced, running his hand through his hair. "I can't promise I won't."

I took a big breath. "Good. At least you're not lying to me. But, I dowant you to promise me one thing. If you _do _change your mind, you have to talk to me first. Deal?"

He deliberated for a second before sighing. "Deal. So, you're coming?"

I nodded, feeling giddy with excitement as a smile unfurled itself on my face. "Of course I am."

He smiled back. "Good."

I walked towards the TARDIS, stopping at the door when suddenly his arm blocked my way. I looked up at him, meeting his eyes incredibly close.

"Yes?" I asked, for a second thinking that maybe he'd changed his mind.

"You have to promise me one thing in return." His eyes bored into mine. "You _have _to be careful, understand?" His free hand suddenly trailed down my arm until it reached my wrist, leaving goose bumps in its wake. He raised my arm, nodding towards the Timepiece. "I don't care how indestructible you think thismakes you. You _will _be careful."

I flickered my eyes from his face to his hand holding my wrist and back. "I promise."

He exhaled in relief. It warmed me that he took my promise so seriously.

He nodded. "Good." The Doctor then stepped back, holding the TARDIS' door open for me in a flourish. "Welcome aboard, Miss. Kylie."

I smiled, stepping inside.

Maybe, _just _maybe, I'd finally found a new place to call home.


	19. Damn Ship

_Hello there:)_

_So, just so you know, this isn't a real chapter. Sorry! Next one's gonna take me a while, I haven't had any time to myself and my internet's been wacky, so I haven't been able to watch Doctor Who, which I usually do as I write each chapter._

_This chapter's just an interlude, and somebody asked me if I could make Kylie visit a room in the TARDIS that's not usually used in the fanfics. As of yet, I don't think I've ever encounter a story with a ball pit in it so... yeah. _

_It's really short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway:)_

* * *

Walking around the TARDIS was an adventure, in some ways even more exiting than following the Doctor around.

The Doctor had told me to find a room and settle. The room I chose was sparse and clean, and I liked the thought that I could slowly fill up the shelves and the tables with new souvenirs from my adventures.

It was strange, how the rooms changed every so often. I'd asked the Doctor and he'd simply shrugged, saying something about the TARDIS' mood swings, whatever that had meant.

It became clear after a while. The TARDIS seemed to have a sense of humor, and I seemed to amuse her.

What had one day been the door to a bathroom, the next day became a ball pit. I'd walked in without paying attention, and found myself gasping with my heart stuck somewhere in my throat as I'd try to make sense as to _why _I was suddenly surrounded by colorful plastic balls.

The next day, it was a bathroom again.

Martha laughed every time she found me scowling at a door, perplexed as to why my room was no longer that, but instead a greenhouse, or why the hall that lead to the console room lead to a dusty attic, filled with relics that I didn't have time to explore, the Doctor calling out my name incessantly.

It befuddled me why the kitchen couldn't simply remain a kitchen, instead of randomly appearing as a library-kitchen, or a dining room-kitchen, or even an engine room-kitchen.

It seemed to amuse the TARDIS endlessly, or so the Doctor told me.

I'd grabbed the dark leather jacket I liked from my room, quickly heading towards the bathroom before heading back to the console, where Martha and the Doctor were waiting. I'd opened the door slowly, peeking in and looking around.

The bathroom had once again become a ball pit.

I'd grinned. "Ha! I win this time."

Deciding I could find a bathroom wherever the Doctor was taking us, I'd run off to the console room. On my way, I'd suddenly tripped in a nonexistent bump, holding on to a random door as I'd tried to keep my balance, feeling it give away underneath my weight, and fell through.

I'd opened my eyes, and immediately started cursing. I'd fallen once again into the ball pit.

"Damn sentient ship." I'd grumbled, taking hold of the ladder that would take me back to the hall.

The Doctor had been waiting for me there, having wondered what had been taking me so long, and he seemed to have been holding back a grin.

I glowered. "Stupid TARDIS."

A fully-fledged grin spread across his face. "Oh, come on, don't be like that. She likes you."

"It's not mutual."

However, it kind of was. Not that I would ever be admitting that out loud. Not until she stopped messing with me. And apologized.

I'd brought Martha into my room one time, and she was surprised.

"Your room is so…" She'd dragged out, looking around. "So empty."

I'd blinked. "Yours isn't?"

"No, it's cozy." She smiled. "Kind of reminds me of home."

I'd pondered over that a while, and reluctantly admitted to myself that I owed the machine a thank you. If my room had looked anything like the one I'd had back in Orisen…

I would have probably cracked.

The room seemed to me like a clean slate. Nothing that would remind me of my past. Just somewhere I could fill up with new memories.

"I like my room." I begrudgingly admitted out loud when I was finally alone.

There was no response, and I wasn't surprised, though I knew she probably understood, however much a sentient machine could under the circumstances.

I'd grinned. "I still don't like you, though."

I'd stepped out from my room, and immediately fell into another ball pit.

"I really, _really, _don't like you."

Wading through the balls, looking for the bracelet that had fallen off, I couldn't even make myself believe that one.

_Damn ship._


End file.
